We must be crazy

Some of us have to work like crazy just to earn a few dollars (pesos) a day and send our children to school. It's a lopsided world. I guess the rest of us just have to think, "I'm working for the Lord" so we can walk the second mile and turn the other cheek.

Please Vote for This Cooperative for Very Poor Families

We are starting a multi-purpose cooperative for very poor families near our home. However, because of poverty, their membership fees and shares will not be enough to really get this cooperative going. So we have asked GiveMeaning.com to include this coop in their online fundraising.

To get this proposal approved, we need at least 100 votes online. We have already received 31 votes in a few days from friends like you on Facebook and Friendster. I'm asking you to also vote online by visiting this link: GiveMeaning, or copy-pasting this link on your browser: http://www.givemeaning.com/proposal/hopecooperative .

If you can, please also pass this on your network or post it on your Multiply account. Thanks, and a Blessed and Happy New Year!

Birds don't go hungry unless...

It says that birds don't go hungry. Jesus said they don't work or worry about the future. Yet God feeds them daily. Well, I really believed that until...

Yesterday, I learned that our love birds had not been fed for almost two days. That was because my wife forgot to buy bird feed. My immediate reaction was that the birds won't go hungry because God will feed them. Suddenly, I caught myself. Well...no...they ARE hungry because they are not free to roam around and look for food. They ARE trapped in a bird cage! They will eat ONLY if I feed them!

That's when it dawned on me that many Christians would not go spiritually hungry if only they were free to roam around. But because churchianity has become so restrictive and so exclusive, millions of Christians are now going spiritually hungry. Many Christians are like my love birds, trapped in a man-made cage of religiosity. They are not free to think or live as Christ would have them. They have been told that they can't read the Bible correctly and that they need pastors or priests to correctly interpret the word of God for them. They are told they have to go to Bible study or worship service in order to be fed. Otherwise, they will go hungry.

That's like putting love birds in a bird cage. I decide when and how they will be fed. And, if I forget, they go hungry. God's care for the birds is frustrated because they have been imprisoned in a cage.

Christians will be fed day in and day out (and not just on Sundays or Wednesdays) if they are not caged. They will grow if only they are free to roam and be as God intended them to be. They will multiply if they are set free to be led by their Maker. Isn't it time to free God's children?

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Tags: birds, christianity, spiritual growth, clergy, pastors, priests

Why the healing ministry and house church can't mix

Can they really mix? Some have tried to marry the healing ministry with house churches but it seems to me it won't really work. Well, that is, not unless there are some major changes in the theology and praxis of the healing ministry.

Modern healing ministries have come to be quite a structured system. Being part of the traditionally structured church, healing has had to involve corporate worship and a prayer ministry. These two conventions necessitate a clergy (the ministry or prayer team) and clergy-led events (the healing seminar). So, although some healing ministries do try to heal clergy-related issues and structure-related issues, much of the healing ministry still use the traditional structure and clergy to acheive its purposes.

In one denomination where freedom and healing are major focuses for ministry, corporate worship is still a major weekly requirement. Prayer ministry teams are used to "bring healing" to the rest of the congregation. The whole system still separates the haves and have-nots — the trained and untrained.

House churches, on the other hand, by theology and praxis, do not support hierarchies and cannot employ a division between priests and people — clergy and laity. There is only one priesthood which includes all Christians.

For healing and house churches to merge, the healing ministry must give up some of its major structures. A prayer ministry with trained prayer ministers must give way to the priesthood of ALL believers (not just a few). Corporate worship has to give way to 24/7 worship where the life of each Christian, rather than just his singing, is the offering of worship. Programmed healing must give way to healing relationships in the context of life, issues, and problems.

In house churches, we've discovered that one topic of discussion may take a season to learn and experience thru life. This topic may become interwoven with other topics and issues in life. It is not proper nor even convenient to just discuss one new topic every week like most congregations do every Sunday. Rather, the Holy Spirit teaches and confronts people for a season, and it's better for them to stay with their issues for weeks or even months until the Holy Spirit is finished with that particular lesson. In other words, moving from one life lesson or topic to another each week or each meeting is not needed nor even appropriate.

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Tags: healing, house church, christianity, life lessons

No worries

It's amazing how God assures us that our food, shelter, and clothing are taken care of. I don't have to worry about what my family will eat today or tomorrow. Right now we have a place to stay — our own home. We all have clothing. Although we may not always be able to buy the clothes we like, we will not go naked. These things are promised by our Provider.

At the same time, Jesus promised that He will build His own church and nothing and no one can destroy it! I don't even have to worry about planting His church or bringing in more disciples. No one can come to Christ unless he is called by the Father. It is the Spirit who brings conviction to a person's heart. I am just an instrument at the right time and the right place. His command to us is simply to disciple the ones He calls, baptize them, and teach them all His commandments.

I have determined that I will not build His church. I will let Christ build His own church. I will simply obey His command to disciple the ones He brings into my life. I will go and find the ones He is calling (when they are already ripe for the picking) and disciple them.

His Kingdom is like a seed that was planted. The farmer goes to sleep and the seed continues to grow by itself without the need for the farmer. The miracle of life and growth belongs to God. Again, the Kingdom is like yeast, just a little and it expands the dough. The Father is the Great Farmer.

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Tags: worry, anxious, provision, church, kingdom, house church, Christianity, discipleship

Whose follower are you?

Last night we were at a birthday party, a surprise party thrown by the friends of one of our brothers in Sta. Rosa. We had a rare chance to meet some of our old friends/comrades from other churches.

After the party, some lingered around and talked for a while before heading home. One of the former pastors of my old denomination shared how the senior pastor of his present church was really an uncommon Pentecostal because he was strict with the Word. That means he really had a very high respect and admiration for his senior pastor. He also mentioned how one of the families of Metro South Vineyard now attends his church.

The whole conversation reminded me how Paul scolded the Corinthians about being followers of Peter, followers of Paul, followers of Apollos, and followers of Christ. He scolded them for the factionalism and disunity in the Corinthian church.

Will he not scold us in the 21st century for being followers of so many leaders and for being divided into hundreds of denominations and thousands of churches? When I meet other Christians, the talk is always about "Which church do you belong to? What denomination does your church belong to? Are you Pentecostal, Evangelical, Born-again, Full-Gospel, Protestant, Catholic, etc?" And as if that was not enough, Christians now talk of their ministries like they were denominations. Worse, they now want to convert churches and denominations into their "way of ministering."

Have we become followers of men instead of followers of Christ? Be honest. Paul warned that God will destroy those who destroy His temple — who divide His church.

What is communion?

My wife is in the province on a mission and I'm left at home to look after the kids. Yesterday, Sunday, was a pretty tough day, busy with household chores. Good thing it was Sunday, and it was a day when I did less of my business work. In the evening, almost everyone was present -- just one of the boys was out. However, short dinner together was, it was lovely, sharing in a meal my daughter, my eldest son and I prepared: mung bean stew and deep-fried chicken.

The best part was sharing time together and joking around. With three teenagers, that's the order of the day. :)

Communion comes from two simple words: common and union. We've placed too much religious meaning into communion that we've lost the real sense of that word. Communion is about sharing in the things we have in common and thereby developing unity.

Communion is not a ritual. It's a lifestyle. It's about sharing with the ones we love, spending time and resources with them, serving them, and being served by them too. It's about going out of our way to develop unity with each other. It's about fellowship, talking, eating, and laughing; sharing dreams, concerns, hopes, and disappointments. And, the most important thing we share in common is Christ and his love.