Ang Lakad ni Enoch

"Enoch walked with God, and then he disappeared because God took him away." (Genesis 5:24, NET Bible)

"By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death, and he was not to be found because God took him up. For before his removal he had been commended as having pleased God. Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." (Hebrews 11:5-6, NET Bible)

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"Huwag na huwag mong kakainin ang bungang iyon, sapagkat sa araw na kainin mo iyon ay MAMAMATAY KA" (Gen. 2:17), babala ng Diyos sa ating mga unang magulang sa hardin. Binale-wala nila ang babala at mas pinaniwalaan ang panlilinlang ng ahas. Kaya naman ipinataw sa tao ang parusang ito: "Dahil sa alabok, doon ka nanggaling, sa lupang alabok ay babalik ka rin." (Gen. 3:19). Pagdating sa ikalimang kabanata ng Genesis, naroon ang talaan ng mga pangalan nina Adan at ng mga inapong sumunod sa kanya:

• Sa gulang na 930, si Adan ay bumalik sa alabok.
• Sa gulang na 912, si Seth ay bumalik sa alabok.
• Sa gulang na 905, si Enosh ay bumalik sa alabok.
• Sa gulang na 910, si Cainan ay bumalik sa alabok.
• Sa edad na 895, si Mahalalel ay bumalik sa alabok.

Wala tayong oras at espasyo para isa-isahin ang mga pangalan. Sapat na ang sabihin na mula sa unang pangalang nabanggit hanggang sa huli, silang lahat ay bumalik sa alabok--- MALIBAN SA ISA!!! Si Enoch ay umabot sa gulang na 365 at ang pagkakasabi sa talata 25, sa gulang na iyon siya ay nawala (wala nang nakasulyap pa sa kanya) dahil kinuha siya ng Diyos. 

Sa pagbuklat natin sa Bagong Tipan, mas nabigyang linaw ang nangyari sa kanya: "... si Enoch ay hindi nakaranas ng kamatayan. Hindi na siya nakita sapagkat kinuha siya ng Diyos." (Heb. 11:5).

Ito ang unang pahiwatig ng Bibliya na ang parusang kamatayan na ipinataw sa sangkatauhan ay maaaring matakasan. Ang tao na bihag sa kuko ng kamatayan ay maaaring makaalpas. Ngayon at kumpleto na ang kapahayagan ng Diyos na nakasulat sa Bibliya, unawa natin na ang pagbabalik sa alabok ay hindi ang ating huling hantungan. Ang huling patutunguhan natin ay sa presensya ng Diyos upang makapiling siya araw at gabi at mamangha sa kanyang kadakilaan magpakailanman.

Kung paano nalampasan ni Enoch ang parusang kamatayan ay nandun rin sa Gen 5:24. Sa buong buhay niya, siya ay naglakad kasama ang Diyos o sa talasalitaan (vocabulary) ng sumulat ng aklat ng Hebreo, ang buhay niya ay kalugod-lugod sa Diyos (Heb. 11:5). Sa buong buhay niya, wala siyang ibang inisip kundi kung ano ang magbibigay-lugod sa Diyos. Naging maingat siya sa paglayo sa mga bagay at mga gawaing kinamumuhian ng Diyos. Ang lumakad sa tuwid na daan at mabuhay ng may takot sa Diyos ang nasa puso at isipan niya. Iyan ang ikinatuwa ng Diyos kaya't siya ay kinuha nang hindi dumadaan sa kamatayan.

Maaaring magtanong ang ilan, "Akala ko ba sa pananampalataya naliligtas ang tao at hindi sa gawa? Bakit tila ang kanyang matuwid na buhay ang siyang nagbigay-lugod sa Diyos at naging daan kung bakit siya nakalaya sa parusang kamatayan? Akala ko ba salvation by grace through faith alone?” 

Sinagot 'yan ng may akda ng aklat ng Hebreo. Aniya, ang dahilan kung bakit ganun na lamang kaganda ang lakad ni Enoch na siya namang ikinalugod ng Diyos ay dahil sa pananampalataya. Sa teolohiya ng sumulat, imposible para sa sinuman ang makapagbigay-lugod sa Diyos kung siya ay walang pananampalataya (Heb 11:6). Kaya naman sa konklusyon niya, ang ugat ng pagkalugod ng Diyos kay Enoch ay hindi dahil sa likas siyang matuwid, kundi dahil sa may pananampalataya siya-- pananampalatayang ang dulot ay matuwid na pamumuhay.

Ito ay isang nakakagalak na katotohanan: tayo na may pananampalataya sa Diyos ay kinalulugdan niya. Hindi na bale kung hindi man malugod ang mga tao sa atin sa tuwing naninindigan tayo sa katotohan. Ang tanging may halaga, nalulugod sa atin ang Diyos.

Huling punto: ang Diyos ay nagbibigay gantimpala sa mga masigasig humahanap sa kanya (Heb. 11:6). Kung wala tayong mapapala sa paglilingkod sa Diyos, kung wala tayong mapapala sa pamumuhay nang matuwid, kung wala tayong pakinabang sa pagsunod sa Diyos--- kawawa naman tayo. Mauuwi lang pala sa wala ang lahat. Ganito rin ang saloobin ni Apostol Pablo (1 Corinto 15:19). Mabuti na lang may pakinabang tayo sa pananampalataya ayon sa Heb.11:6. Ang Diyos ay nagbibigay gantimpala sa mga humahanap sa kanya.

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Like Enoch, walk with God, and you cannot mistake your road. You have infallible wisdom to direct you, immutable love to comfort you, and eternal power to defend you."
Charles H. Spurgeon
Morning and Evening

The Purpose of Peace

China's constant acts of bullying within our seas energized intercessions for peace. That is of course the right thing to do; we should ask for God's intervention. No one wants war; no one wants bloodshed especially if your nation's armed forces are weaker compared to the bully nation. But perhaps we should go deeper than just praying for peace. We should ask ourselves "What is the purpose of peace?" Without a proper answer to this question, we may be praying for purely selfish reasons.

Living in London at the onset of the Second World War, Martyn Lloyd-Jones was a witness of how men and women crowded places of worship to pray for peace during those troubled times. Here's an excerpt from one of his sermons. The principles were drawn from Acts 9:31 and 1 Timothy 2:1-2.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

It is not enough that we should desire peace merely that we avoid the horror and suffering of war, and all the dislocations and hardships and interference with ordinary life that are consequent upon it. Our real desire for peace should be based upon the further desire to have the fullest opportunity to live the godly and the holy life, and to have the maximum amount of time in which to build ourselves up in the faith. Man's chief business in life is to serve and to glorify God. That is why we are here on earth; all other things are subservient to this-- all the gifts and the pleasures which God gives us so freely. That is the chief end and object of man's life; and consequently he should desire peace because it enables him to do that more freely and fully than he can during a state of war.

But is that our reason for desiring peace? Is that the real motive in our prayers for peace? It is not for me to judge, but one cannot be blind to facts. Far too often, I fear, the motive has been purely selfish-- merely the avoidance of the consequences of war. Indeed, it has frequently failed to rise even to that level, and one has felt that many have desired peace merely in order to avoid a disturbance of the kind of life which they were living and enjoying so heartily.

What kind of life was that? In a word, it was almost the exact opposite of that described in our two passages of Scripture (Acts 9:31; 1 Timothy 2:1-2). Under the blessing of peace, men and women, in constantly increasing numbers, have forsaken God and religion and have settled down to a life which is essentially materialistic and sinful.

Why Does God Allow War?
p.91-92; Crossway Books

Oktubre 28 sa Buhay nina Jim Elliot at Micah Tarlit

Micah Rosario Tarlit

Micah, unang-una ay ipinaparating ko ang aking pagbati. Bagamat ako'y 'di makakadalo sa pagdiriwang ng iyong ika-18 kaarawan dahil kailangang may maiwang mag-aalaga sa iyong lola, nais kong ipabatid na ako'y nakikigalak sa iyong espesyal na araw. Tiyak ika'y puno ng pag-asa at ng mga mararangal na adhikain para sa kinabukasan. Nawa'y ang lahat ng iyan ay matupad ayon sa kalooban ng ating Manlilikha. Wala akong ibang hangad para sa iyo kundi magbunga ng maraming kabutihan ang iyong buhay. At dahil 'yan ang hangad ko, hayaan mong banggitin ko ang pangalang Jim Elliot.

Maraming puwedeng sabihin tungkol sa kanya, subalit wala akong balak pahabain ang mensaheng ito. Tutal, ang mga detalye sa kanyang buhay ay madali namang mahalukay sa panahong ito na may Google at Wikipedia.

Taong 1927, ang life expectancy o inaasahang haba ng buhay ng mga bagong silang na kalalakihang Amerikano ay 'di kukulangin sa 56 na taon. Oktubre ng 1927 nang ipinanganak si Jim Elliot, subalit ang haba ng buhay niya ay umabot lamang sa kalahati ng 56. Enero ng taong 1956 nang tumarak sa kanyang katawan ang isang sibat na agad kumitil sa kanyang buhay. At hindi lamang siya ang dumanas ng ganito; maging ang kanyang mga kasama ay ganun din ang sinapit: Ed McCully, 29; Roger Youderian, 31; Pete Fleming, 28; at si Nate Saint, 32. Ang tanging atraso nila, tinangka nilang ibahagi ang ebanghelyo ni Hesus sa Waodani tribe, isang marahas na tribo sa Ecuador.

Makatuwirang tanong: bakit kailangang mangyari iyon? Malakas pa sila at marami pang puwedeng gawing kapaki-pakinabang sa ating daigdig. Sa mata ng sanlibutan, nasayang ang kalahati ng buhay ni Jim Elliot. Ngunit nasayang nga ba?

Sa kamatayan ng limang misyonerong ito, ang pangamba ng marami ay manghihina ang loob ng mga kristiyano at mababawasan ang bilang ng mga hahayo bilang mga misyonero. 'Yan pala ay isang maling akala. Sa halip, naging inspirasyon sa marami ang buhay nina Jim Elliot at ng kanyang mga kasama. Marami ang naglakas-loob na ibahagi ang ebanghelyo sa mga lugar kung saan 'di pa ito naririnig. Marami rin ang nakakilala sa Panginoong Hesus, ang ilan sa kanila mula sa Waodani tribe.

Ang petsa ngayon ay Oktubre 28. Sa araw na ito noong taong 1949, may isinulat si Jim Elliot sa kanyang journal: 

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."

Si Jim Elliot ay isa lamang sa mahabang listahan ng mga martir. Sinimulan ni Stephen (Acts 7:59-60) at sinundan ni Apostle James (Acts 12:2). Silang lahat ay nagbuwis ng buhay dahil sa patotoong si Hesus ay namatay at muling nabuhay at nararapat kilalanin bilang Panginoon.

Oktubre 28, 2012. Eksaktong 63 taon na ang lumipas, subalit ang diwa ng isinulat ni Jim Elliot sa kanyang journal ay nananatiling sariwa sa ating kapanahunan. Kaya naman ito ang hatid kong mensahe sa iyo: Ang buhay na ganap ay 'di nasusukat sa haba nito. Hindi rin ito nasusukat sa kaginhawaang tinatamasa ng katawan. Ang buhay na ganap at kasiya-siya ay ang buhay na ginugol sa pagsunod sa kalooban ng Diyos anuman ang maging kapalit.

Isang pinagpalang kaarawan!

Sulat-kamay ni Jim Elliot sa kanyang Journal

3rd Halo-halo Huwebes

Trigonometry and Honesty

"Today I am giving two examinations- one in trigonometry and the other in honesty. I hope you will pass them both. If you must fail one, fail trigonometry. There are many good people in the world who cannot pass trig, but there are no good people in the world who cannot pass the examination of honesty"

- Madison Sarratt of Vandervilt University
  Our Daily Bread, Vol. 31/ July 10, 1986

If they hated Spurgeon, keep in mind that they hated Christ first

(John 15:18) 

Observe that the enemies of Charles Spurgeon in the "Downgrade Controversy" denied some of the essentials of the evangelical faith:

1. the imputation of Adam's sin
2. the imputation of Christ's righteousness
3. the doctrine of everlasting conscious punishment
4. the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures
5. the Trinity

"We are now at the parting of ways, and the younger ministers especially must decide whether or not, they will embrace and undisguisedly proclaim that the 'modern thought' which in Mr. Spurgeon's eyes is a 'deadly cobra' while in ours it is the glory of the century. It discards many of the doctrines dear to Mr. Spurgeon and his school, not only as untrue and unscriptural, but as in the strictest sense immoral; for it cannot recognise the moral possibility of imputing either guilt or goodness, or the justice of inflicting everlasting punishment for temporary sin. It is not so irrational as to pin its faith to verbal inspiration or so idolatrous as to make its acceptance of a true Trinity of divine manifestation cover polytheism."

-Christian World

cited in R.J. Sheehan's C.H. Spurgeon and the Modern Church

Ano nga ba ang aking istilo sa pagsusulat?

In this site, you can submit a few paragraphs of your work for "statistical analysis". Based on your word choice and writing style, the site will tell  "which famous writer you write like".

I submitted "God's Sovereignty Over the Wills and Desires of People Around Us", and the result was I write like William Shakespeare.

 I submitted "We Have Seen His Glory", the result was I write like Edgar Allan Poe.

 I submitted "Beautiful Extravagance", and the result was a name I never heard before-- I write like H.P. Lovecraft, "American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction" !!! (Wikipedia)

Since it was a three-way tie, I submitted another post to break it. After analyzing "How to love your son without walking in the path of Marlene Aguilar -Pollard", the final result is William Shakespeare.

The Influence of Books and Teachers

"If I had even the faintest clue when I was younger as to how profound an impact books and professors would have upon my life, I would have kept a better record of my thoughts and emotions. Why? Because some books and teachers leave indelible fingerprints on our souls. And when those fingerprints are left, it's as if your DNA has changed. Our physical body takes on characteristics because of our chemical DNA. Likewise, those whom we've read and those whose feet we have studied will transform our passions, power and purpose."

-Ravi Zacharias

Just Thinking (Winter 2003), p.1

also appeared in the book Indellible Ink:

22 Prominent Leaders Discuss the Books That Shaped Their Faith (Ed. Scott Larsen)

2nd Halo-halo Huwebes

 The Problem of Information Overload

Sana may maligaw na kopya ng Amusing Ourselves to Death sa Booksale. Dalawampu't limang taon na ang nakalipas buhat nang unang ilathala ito, at hanggang ngayon ay pinag-uusapan pa rin tulad nitong panel discussion na ito na pinangunahan ni Albert Mohler. Nagpakita siya ng karunungan sa panayam na ito noong panahong bagong silang pa lamang ang Cyberspace. I think waht he said which begins at 4:48 is the highlight of the interview:

Charlayne Hunter-Gault: What images come to your mind when you think about what our lives will be like in the cyberspace?

Postman: Well the worst images are of people who are overloaded with information which they don't know what to do with, have no sense of what is relevant and what is irrelevant, people who become information junkies

Hunter-Gault: What do you mean?

Postman: Well the problem in the 19th century with information was that we live in a culture of information scarcity. And so humanity addressed that problem beginning with photography and telegraphy in the 1840's. We tried to solve the problem of overcoming the limitations of space, time and form. And for about a hundred years we worked on this problem and we solved it in a spectacular way. And now by solving that problem, we created a new problem that people have never exprienced before: information glut-- information meaninglessness-- information incoherence.

The Cry of Helpless Children

We cry 'Abba, Father' 

"Paul speaks here about Christian crying  'Abba, Father!'  The verb he uses is krazein, and in the New Testament it denotes a loud cry, often a cry or shriek of anguish (cf. Mk. 15:39, our Lord's cry on the cross; Rev. 12:2. a woman in childbirth). The picture is not that of a believer resting quietly in his Father's arms in childlike faith, but of the child who has tripped and fallen crying out in pain, 'Daddy, Daddy'. That cry is the mark of the presence of the Spirit of adoption, not least because it shows that in time of need it is towards our Father in heaven that we look."

Sinclair B. Ferguson

The Christian Life, page 100

"By their books we shall know them.

And by our books we shall be known."

"To a great extent, our personal libraries betray our true identities and interests. A minister’s library, taken as a whole, will likely reveal a portrait of theological conviction and vision. Whose works have front place on the shelves, Martyn Lloyd-Jones or John Shelby Spong? Charles Spurgeon or Harry Emerson Fosdick? Karl Barth or Carl Henry? John MacArthur or Joel Osteen?

"How serious a Bible scholar is this preacher? The books will likely tell. Are the books all old or all new? If so, the reader is probably too contemporary or too antiquarian in focus. Are the books read? If so, the marginalia of an eager and intelligent mind adds value to the book. It becomes more a part of us.

Is this person a Christian intellectual, feeding the mind and soul by reading? For too many pastors, the personal library announces, “I stopped reading when I graduated from seminary.”

When I think of my closest friends, I realize that I am most at home with them in their libraries, and they are most at home with me in mine. Why? Because the books invite and represent the kind of conversation and sharing of heart, soul, and mind that drew us together in the first place.

By their books we shall know them. And by our books we shall be known."

R. Albert Mohler, Jr.

read the whole post here

Akanunot ya Man-Reunion Iray Mamasiken

May bagong bandang nabuo! (click here) It seems there's a bright future ahead for these young musicians... LOL! 

The report is that they have re-recorded the old songs, largely from the Greg X. Volz era. Nang ako'y magsimulang makinig sa Petra, panahon na ni John Schlitt kaya hindi ako pamilyar sa mga awit ni Volz. Sinusubukan kong makinig sa kanya at mahusay naman talaga si Lolo Greg.

Bukod sa album ay may tour pa sila ngayong 2010-2011. Siya nga pala, may live show pa sila sa TBN sa Nobyembre 20.

1st Halo-halo Huwebes

Karl Barth's Trinity: Suborthodox?

Have read about Karl Barth's replacement of the traditional formula "One God in three persons" with "one divine subject in three different modes of being". Bruce Demarest concludes that Barth's position is a form of "idealistic modalism". In one of the end notes, Demarest further labels Barth's understanding of the Trinity as "suborthodox" 

(chapter 7, Integrative Theology Vol.1-- co-authored with Gordon Lewis)

Salvation in Dim Light 

"We learn how little of God's truth may serve for conversion, if the hearer makes good use of it and it is savingly applied by the Spirit. The penitent on the cross was saved by means of mere fragments of truth, presented to him in the blasphemies of Christ's accusers and the inscription on His cross. This is a delightful thought when it is viewed in connection with the poor and ignorant, and others who live under a defective dispensation of truth. But it is unutterably solemn when viewed in connection with ourselves. How shall we escape if we die unconverted, after the light we have received and the many sermons we have heard?"

-James Buchanan 

The Dying Thief (2)

The Free Presbyterian Magazine, January 2009.

This is an edited version of what was originally published in "The Office and Work of the Holy Spirit" 

 

True Charity Says Hard Things

"They think it unkind to say anything that appears to condemn others. For my part I cannot understand such charity. It seems to me the kind of charity which would see a neighbor drinking slow poison but never interfere to stop him, or which would allow passengers to embark in a leaky vessel and not try to prevent them, or which would see a blind man walking near a precipice and think it wrong to cry out and tell him he was in danger" 

-J.C. Ryle

Knots Untied

Karl Barth Again

In Karl Barth's reading of Rom.5:18-19, the relation of Christ to men is as inclusive as Adam's relation to men. Followers of Barth to this day insist that "all men" are universally reconciled to God, yet they deny that they are universalists.

John Murray included an entire appendix in response to Barth in his Romans commentary. But for my ordinary brain, this is what I found to be most useful:

"unless exegesis of Paul is evacuated completely at the most vital point, this means that all men without exception must be ultimately  the beneficiaries of that grace which reigns through righteousness unto eternal life (5:21). Barth cannot hold to universalism at one point in the relationship to Christ without carrying out the implications for the ultimate salvation of all men. For if there is distributive universalism in the apodoses of verses 18 and 19, as Barth's interpretation demands, there must also be in the apodosis of verse 21, and the reign of grace through righteousness unto eternal life must embrace all men without exception. This is not Paul's teaching (cf. II Thess. 1:9; 2:10-14)..." 

-John Murray

The Epistle to the Romans

Reading Should Ignite Writing

Resolution #2 should lead to Resolution #3. Reading should ignite writing, that's according to Ravi Zacharias:

"... learning how to articulate and analyze what you read is one of most vital things you can do. The concern of reading great writers only is that you might conclude that they alone know how to say it well. Don't fall into the trap of parroting someone else's thoughts. The great writers should serve as igniters and inspirers that enable us to express the way God has gifted us, and not make us feel inadequate." (Ravi Zacharias, Just Thinking, p.8, Winter 2003)

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More Than Just Counting Volumes

This article from Karl Rove served as a motivation for New Year's Resolution #2. President Bush, one of the busiest men in the planet, was able to read 95 books in 2006, 51 in 2007, and 40 in 2008. So I should not blame my busy schedule for my lack of reading.

Yet it is more than just counting volumes. I remember this quote from Mortimer Adler:

"There are two ways in which one can own a book.The first is the property right you establish by paying for it, just as you pay for clothes and furniture. But this act of purchase is only the prelude to possession. Full ownership comes only when you have made it a part of yourself... You buy a beefsteak and transfer it from the butcher's icebox to your own. But you do not own the beefsteak in the most important sense until you consume it and get it into your bloodstream. I am arguing that books, too, must be absorbed in your bloodstream to do you any good." (Mortimer Adler, How to Mark a Book, Saturday Review, 6 July 1940)

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