The Church Must Go!

Everything is happening so fast. School is out and summer is in. Exciting times ahead... especially in the life of the church.
I traveled to Jimalalud, Negros via Bacolod. It was a new route for me. It took me longer hours to travel but it was scenic route that I enjoyed. The Negros version of Chocolate Hills and Rice Terraces not to mention the beautiful landscape along the way.
I always enjoy reuniting with old friends and fellow church workers. We are all a year older in the ministry. But not everything is old this year. This year offers a fresh breath in the church. The new church fiscal year is beginning under new leadership. God is always good to lead us to new ministries that will bring good news to more people in the Visayas and Mindanao. I enjoy going to different places, as all Christians should. After all, that is what is asked of us. As Jesus charged the disciples before and so we are charged to, "Therefore... Go!"

New House... Same God

God is a God of love. When God is the center in the household of faith, then love is always there. Even if we move to a different location, God is always with us. And so...

...we are moving to a new place. Where God leads us... we will follow. It is not blind obedience. Faith. It is called trusting in God.

I always remember the story of the great trust in God that was exemplified by Abraham. When God commanded Abraham to offer his son, it was not blind obedience... it was complete surrender to God's will. Sometimes, we never understand nor can we see the logic of God's plan. But that is the beauty of trusting God. All we have to do is..."TRUST and OBEY."

New Year

New year offer new hope. It gives us a fresh start. It allows us to realign our goals or set new ones. God is the God of time and new beginnings. This New Year is exciting. For us, everything will be new. New adventure. In Santiago City, Isabela. New addition in our family. In my career. In our business. In our health. In the kids studies. God places in our hearts new goals that will help us grow according to God's will.

God makes everything new and offers new hope with the New Year. Happy New Year.

The Word Became Flesh

A sermon preached during the Christmas Day Service (Dec 25, 2016) at Tuguegarao Central UMC.

Naimbag nga bigat kadacayo amin kakabsat. Merry Christmas canyayo.

Amo yo, idi intawag ni Pastor nga syac ti agsermon ti Christmas Sunday, excited nac. I am always excited to share the good news gapo ket as a medical doctor canayon met nga bad news ti mai-share ko kadagiti pasyentic.

But today is Christmas Day. Today is the day when we celebrate The Word is made flesh and dwells among us.

The Gospel of John is a unique book among the four Gospel books. It is only the Gospel of John which tells the birth story of Jesus differently. It emphasizes a high Christology, meaning the emphasis is on the divinity of Christ. Why the need for emphasis?

The Gospel of John was probably written to early Christians meaning they already know and believe that Jesus is the messiah. However, they still face persecution thus their faith is in jeopardy.

The Gospel of John hopes to deepen the faith of the already existing believers of Jesus by emphasizing that Jesus is indeed a divine being. It strengthens their faith by teaching them that in recognizing that Jesus is the messiah, they will see the glory of God that is full of grace (love) and truth from God. Belief in a divine God therefore needs a better illustration than just a birth of an infant Jesus to an incarnate God who became flesh. Faith in God is deepened by recognizing that God is not a distant God but a God whom we can experience and see in the person of Jesus. 

You will not find the manger story or the visit of the three kings or the visit of the angel to Joseph and Mary. No, the birth story of Jesus in the Gospel of John is different.

Why do you think it is different? Because the writer of the Gospel of John wants to emphasize to us that Jesus is not just a cute little innocent baby. There is more to that.

You see, Christmas is not just the birth of the baby Jesus. Any baby can be born on Christmas day. 

In the hospital, when I was on duty on Christmas day we deliver babies on December 25. Yung ibang Nanay, ipipilit pa na makapanganak ng December 25. Maglalabor ng December 24 para makapanganak ng 25. Tapos ang ipapangalan sa anak nila ay Hesus. Pero yung tatay, hindi si Joseph. Sabi nga yung anak cute like Jesus pero yung mukha ng tatay mukhang si Hudas. Christmas is not just the birth of the infant Jesus. The writer of John makes a strong emphasis by describing God as the Word who became flesh and dwells among us.

Why was John using the Word (logos) becoming flesh to describe God incarnate as man?

The birth story of Jesus, that is God becoming human, is described in the Gospel of John as the Word becoming flesh. Let us focus on that “Word.” For John, God is the “Word.” In the original Hebrew Bible, the Greek word for “Word” is Logos.

Logos is the Greek word that means divine wisdom, potent energy, creative power.

Let me share with you how other authors and theologians answered this question about  Logos. First, the writer of John wants to emphasize to us by referring to Jesus as the Logos. This Logos is the God that created the world through a spoken Word, God said “let there be light and there was light.” That Word that can create is God. That Word is Jesus. Jesus is the Word that can create the world and the source of all created things. That Word is also the source of love, charity, grace and truth.

Another thing, the birth of Jesus for John is not just a simple single event with a particular date in the history of events. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. It is important to recognize that the beginning is not an event but rather beyond the human history. It is cosmic and thus is an eternal unit. The Gospel of John emphasizes that Jesus is not finite.

But then, the Word, that is Jesus, enters into the finite world in verse 10. Although, the world rejected the very God that created the world. Except for some people who were born again and received Jesus.

The story of Jesus is the story of the Word becoming flesh. It is the story of an infinite God coming into the finite world as a human being. It is the incarnation of God as man. The writer of John is sharing to us their experience of that incarnation. Jesus is the human manifestation of God’s creating and saving love. God, through Jesus Christ, has shined the light through all the dark corners of the earth.

One book emphasized that when the Word became flesh it dwelt among us, the dwelling was not temporary. A closer study on why the writer of John used the word dwell means the intent of God to becoming flesh was not only to experience humanity but to be among humans in this world not for a temporary moment. The original Greek word used for dwelling could also mean “to tabernacle” or “to tent”. To tent mean to stay close without boundaries. The tabernacle reminds us of the Old Testament where the presence of God with the people is symbolized by the tabernacle. The verse could therefore translate as “God tabernacled” with us. Here it is important to understand that the incarnation of the Word in the human form of Jesus does not only stop in Jesus but God is present with all of humanity who have received Jesus as their lord and savior.

God is with us through Jesus. And we could see God’s gracefulness and truthfulness in Jesus.  God is graceful that he forgives us even if we are unworthy of it. God is truthful that he keeps his promise of salvation to us.

The Gospel of John is telling his readers before and to us today that God became flesh in Jesus and the truthfulness and gracefulness of God can be seen in Jesus who became human like us. But why do we need to be reminded of that?

This problem is not unique during the time of John. Even to this day we hear some people talking about Jesus as a mere human being. That is the reality. Some groups and cults have propagated this understanding that Jesus is not divine and therefore not the messiah. Why is this dangerous and important for us Christians?

Because if Jesus is not God and man, then the person who suffered on the cross to save us from our sin and defeated death was not God but a mere human being. It will mean that humanity was saved by Superman – a superhero. Not God himself. You owe your salvation to a human being. We are entrusting our lives and our future to a mere human being.

As Methodist, we are one with many mainline Christians who expresses the same basic belief with early historical Christianity that Jesus Christ is human. That is apparent in our Nicene and Apostles Creed. That is apparent in our hymns and prayer to the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

We celebrate Christmas because we celebrate not just the birthday of an infant but the incarnation of God becoming flesh. For the same reason, those who do not believe Jesus as the incarnate God do not have a reason to celebrate Christmas. Again for the same reason, if you do not understand Christmas as the celebration of the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us then better not celebrate Christmas. The decorations, Santa Clause, Christmas trees, parties, exchange gifts and good food are nothing if we only see Christmas a birthday of Jesus without recognizing that in that birth God became human. Our faith may need a little upgrade from God.

My friends, let us examine our faith quickly. When we pray, do we call to our heavenly father or do we look for Jesus? When we see the manger, do we see a poor little baby or do we see God reaching out to us humankind? When we see the cross, do we see a suffering and bleeding Jesus or do we see God reconciling the sinners to his glory?  When we celebrate Christmas, do we see the birth of a baby or do we incarnation of God becoming flesh? Is this because we do not often see Jesus as God.

God is not far from us. And so we ask, can we deepen our faith if we see Jesus as God that is all-encompassing, all-knowing and all-powerful God? Maybe we will experience God as graceful, loving and truthful to his promise when we experience it through the humanity of Jesus.

God is not far nor absent if we Jesus as God.  Maybe, we will rely more on Jesus to heal us completely if we see him as God incarnate. Maybe we will trust more in Jesus to lead us to our lifetime partner if we see Jesus as God incarnate. Maybe we will not feel lonely and hopeless if we see our best friend Jesus as God incarnate. Maybe we will surrender the outcome of our exams to Jesus if we see him as God incarnate. Maybe we will not doubt the promise of Jesus that we will succeed in our businesses and careers if we see him as God incarnate. Maybe we will not impose our own agenda and personal plans and desires against the perfect plan of Jesus for us if we see him as God incarnate.  

You see, our faith deepens and strengthens when we recognize that baby born Jesus is God who became flesh. That is the message of the writer of John when he said later on 3:16, “For God so loved the world that whoever believes in Jesus (as the God who became flesh) will not die (from sins) but will have eternal life.”

That is the good news my dear brothers and sisters, that on Christmas day God became flesh and dwells among us. God is made flesh in you. God is living in you. In your daily lives and daily activities, the dark world will experience the presence of God and they will know God is for real.

God is for real. God is not just an idea. God is not some distant being. God is present in this world.

The hospital is a the darkest place on earth. But God is present there. There is sickness, there is hopelessness, there is trouble and anxiety. But that is where hope is needed. That is where God is made flesh in the lives of your health workers.

The church can be God made flesh in the lives of other people who live in the dark.

God became flesh on Christmas day so that God may live with us and become closer than ever to us. That in sinfulness and arrogance people may feel the grace of God, that in our unfaithfulness we can see the truthfulness of God, that in our suffering and pain we can feel the comforting embrace of God, that when we are fearful and anxious God is there to accompany us, that in our times of sadness and loneliness God is our companion, that in times of our victory and happiness God can share in our happy moments.

God came to this world, not in general terms. God wants to be with each one of us individually. God is coming to you. The Word that is God needs to be incarnate in this church, in our church group, in our families, in our relationships, in you and dwell in you, bringing with him truth and grace. God wants to be incarnate and become flesh in all of society and in us. Let us allow God to be born in our hearts this Christmas day. Amen.

Thanksgiving Service

Be Thankful. God gave our family another chance to have a healthy body, mind and spirit. This marks the second year of my Mom's successful transplant, adding another year in life TOGETHER , overcoming family stresses, strengthening relations and increasing our faith in God. 

Two years may seem a short time. But when you savor each and every day of it, you realize how important each little time could actually be. How such blessing could allow one to travel across borders to see friends in the other side of the world. How such blessing could allow you to participate in church event and have fellowship with other people. How each blessing could allow you to share God's wonderful work. 

Ou Our celebration also reminds us to take care of God's creation. As life is a gift from God, we must be responsible stewards of it. We must take care of our own health. We must not let our selfish desires ruin the temple of God. Health lifestyle is a Christian must. And it begins with the food we eat, the activities we do, the things we think and the little things that matter. 

We celebrate together. Even if we are miles apart, we are in solidarity as one family in the gratefulness for Grace. What are you thankful for?

Jesus is going, who is arriving? By PasDoc Neki Soriano

Text: John 16:12-15

 "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Theme: Trinity Sunday

Good morning. I am happy to share with you the good news this Sunday morning.

Katatapos lang po ng election and we have a new leader and President. Did you vote for our new president? Do you like our new leader? Aalis na si PNoy? Mas magaling ba ang papalit sa kanya? Maitutuloy ba nya ang mga pagbabago o babalik tayo sa dati at lalong masisira? Katatapos lang ng General Conference ng UMC. We have new leaders in our church as well. In other churches, they have new pastors and deaconess, because we are an itinerant church. There is a reason why we do that. Other leaders will leave and go. People tell me, our strategy is not good. Who will take charge of the position left by our previous leaders? Who will take the lead if the leaders are gone? How will the Church survive? Who will help us in times of trouble? The relationship between the leader and members will be broken. Who will pray for us if we get sick? Who will heal us if we need spiritual healing? Who will correct us? How are we going to be forgiven if we commit mistakes? How are we going to be saved from our sins? You see, the problem becomes that people have become dependent on the person who leads them. The church has become pastor-driven or leader-driven. Kung ano lang yung sinabi ng pastor o ng lay leader, yun na. Worst, they even worship the leader instead of God. Kaya kapag nawala na yung leader, wala na rin silang magawa. I tell them, you have to read the Bible and you have to understand our faith so that you will appreciate why we are an itinerant church. Why are we not scared if we have new leaders or even if people come and go?

Today is Trinity Sunday and I found it very important for us to look into this very important doctrine in our church even as we look into our church leadership concerns. Why do we celebrate Trinity Sunday? We celebrate Trinity Sunday to commemorate the reality that we believe in a Triune God, The Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit. There is only One God, but Three Persons with One essence. That is the mystery of God. It is a mystery that the human mind cannot totally comprehend. Our words will never be enough to describe this mystery about God. Some theologians have tried to explain it like the three phases of water – steam, liquid and ice but they are all water. Some theologians have tried to explain it like a guitar chord where you press different strings but get only one chord. Other theologians have tried to explain it like a soft drink, you drink in a bottle or you drink from a can but all you get is the same Coke soft drink. It will never be enough how we describe the trinity. But we must remember that there are three persons at work here = God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, even though they are three, they are of one essence for there is only one God. They are together since the beginning of time. They are equal yet they can emphasize one over the other. They work in unity. God the Father is working through the Son Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. We see this in verse 14 and 15 when Jesus said, “He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is also of the Son and this he also shares with the Holy Spirit. They are of the same essence as a Triune God.”

This is what we read this morning. Jesus was about to go back to the Father. But Jesus will not be really gone, he said, as the Holy Spirit will be with the disciples. God is still with them.

LISTEN my dear brothers and sisters. Jesus is leaving his disciples. They thought they are going to be alone by themselves. Jesus is moving out. Who will lead them now? Who will help them? Who will continue the work? This is the questions the disciples ask that we continue to ask today. But Jesus already gave his answer. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit will be with us. That is Awesome.

The good news my dear Brothers and Sisters, is that the same Holy Spirit that Jesus promised to the disciples is still here with us in the Church. The same Holy Spirit with the disciples is with us. God is with us. Even if Jesus went back to the Father, God is still with us through the Holy Spirit.

Now, what does it mean that the Holy Spirit is with us? It does not mean that everything will be perfect. It does not mean that there will not be any problems. We will experience difficulty just as the disciples did. Jesus said in verses before that they will do to you what they did to me. So the disciples will be persecuted. They will have conflicts. They will encounter problems, the same things that we may be experiencing today. But the reality that we have a triune God, the Holy Spirit is with us therefore God is still with us.

The disciples looked up to Jesus as their leader. They did only according to the teachings of Jesus. Jesus helped them when they are in trouble; remember the storm in the sea. When they have problems, they go to Jesus for troubleshooting. Remember the 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes. But when Jesus left, the disciples felt that they will not have somebody to help them and guide them. But Jesus even said that it is to their advantage that Jesus will leave because it makes room for the Spirit to fill the space.

When a leader leaves, we allow the Holy Spirit to move and use another one and fill the gathered body. A new leader filled with the Holy Spirit will be able to guide us, while the entire body will also be filled by the Holy Spirit to follow God’s direction. Ang tanong mga kapatid, are we filled by the Holy Spirit? Did you allow the Holy Spirit to guide you or you rejected it dahil natatakot kayo? Bata pa kasi ako, hindi ko kasi alam yan, hindi ko man napag aralan yan, ganito ganyan lang kasi ako. If you are led by the Holy Spirit, you can do it.

I would like to share an experience I had in one Sunday School in QC UMC. The Sunday School Teachers there were big time lay leaders and veteran teachers. But one Sunday, they were not available because all of them attended a church conference. Who will lead the Sunday School? Or cancel na lang muna? Andoon na kami lahat, but there was no Sunday School teacher. Nagtuturuan na sila kung sino ang maglead. And then, out of nowhere, a young adult guy stood up and said he felt he was led by the Holy Spirit to facilitate the Bible Study. So we started in prayer and we read the passage and we had some discussions. It was a very lively and dynamic Bible Study and we felt so blessed after that because we were led by the Holy Spirit.

Filled by the Holy Spirit. I would like to highlight THREE things what it means that the Holy Spirit is working in us.

First, the spirit of Christ is in the church, even if someone leaves, the spirit of Christ remains. This is an important understanding for us United Methodist. God is in the church. God is residing in this church. People do not own the church. Pastors do not own the church. The chairperson does not own the church. Kaya nga, even if people live, God will still be present in the church. God will use someboy else to be the instrument of the Holy Spirit. Somebody can fill up that position and the spirit will ready to fill them up. I saw that here in Spring of Life. Minsan, I was looking at the children because there were so many of them. My kids asked if Kuya Marvin will teach them. But Marvin was not available that day. I do not know if somebody else prepared a lesson for the children, so I just told my kids to go at the back of the church, get the Bible Story and wait for me. And then when I went at the back to teach them, some of the youth are already leading the kids. I think sila Yana  yun at sila Mark. Kahit wala yung assinged makapagturo ng Sunday School, somebody else will take that lead with the leading of the Holy Spirit. That is how powerful the Holy Spirit works in us.

Second, the spirit of truth resides not in a single person; it resides in the gathered body. God is everywhere but God’s presence can be truly felt in the gathering of the people. Kaya, never say that I can worship God in my room or in my car or all by myself because God is in our midst if we gather. So, please gather together as one body. Come to church or it will not be a body. Jesus said, whenever two or three is gathered in my name, I am with them. Dumarating si Hesus if we gather together. So gather as often as you can, in Bible Studies, in Fellowships, even when you are eating. Do not eat all by yourself. Call other people and then pray together. When you read the Bible, gather together. And when you gather, feel the presence of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit in your midst. Be filled by the power of the Holy Spirit. Whenever you gather together, make sure you are all filled with the Holy Spirit. Bakit? This leads us to #3..

Third, the leader of every gathered body is Jesus Christ, not the person per se. The same is true in our church bodies. Our congregation is not led by the lay leaders, the pastor, the church workers or any person per se. Jesus is the leader of the congregation. The leadership position belongs to Jesus. Say “OUR LEADER IS JESUS.” That is the reason why we United Methodist do not get weary or troubled even if we have different pastors in our church. Because we still have the same leader. That is also the reason that even if we do not like the person in the position, we remain in the church because our leader is the same. Our understanding of the Triune God, the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit guides us in how we work as a church. It is very important in our understanding that we see God as our leader and not the person in front of you. That is why, do not criticize the person, that person represents Jesus. Instead, recognize the presence of Jesus in that person. Respect that person just as you would show respect to Jesus, even if you do not like the person or disagree with his/her thoughts. We are but instruments of the Holy Spirit but remember, we will not feel the presence of Holy Spirit if we do not allow the Holy Spirit to be in us.

People come and go, but the church will go on. People taking the leadership role may change but God is still our leader. Jesus left, but the Holy Spirit led the church forward. The gathered church will go on as long as the Holy Spirit is with them. God did not leave. God is still there, still here. The same Holy Spirit that led the disciples will lead the church forward. The same Holy Spirit during the biblical times is here with us today. That is the good news my dear brothers and sisters, that the Holy Spirit is with us today. God the Father is here with us today, Jesus the Son is here with us today, the Holy Spirit is here with us today – the Triune God is here with us today. Are you willing to be filled by the Holy Spirit? Are you willing to be God’s instrument in the church? In the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen. 

Wesley is for health promotion and disease prevention

John Wesley wrote Primitiv Physiq to teach people how to address their own health. The people during his time cannot access the health services available, either it is too expensive or it is not available. After several hundred of years, the same health problem exists. John Wesley conceptualized a solution to the problem. He understood the role of the church in addressing the health issues of the people. Today, we need to revisit and claim the heritage that made the people called Methodists relevant in the transformation of the society. In this paper, I will argue that the writing of Primitive is John Wesley's desire for the church to have a health ministry focused on health promotion and disease prevention.

Chapters:
1 - Sin and Sickness
2 - The Air we breathe
3 - The Passions
4 - The food we eat
5 - The things we do
6 - Prayer