FAIR SUNSHINE

We were on our way to our target fishing hole in Angat, Bulacan when we slowed down to a halt in traffic due to this extremely crowded intersection 25 minutes into the ride. I have never been here nor have I heard of such a place. But the coming festivities tomorrow would probably explain how this much people caused a standstill. Upon arriving at our original destination, we found that the market was just about to close. And so we opted to turn back to this place. Only one soul passing by acknowledged the raised cross this afternoon, and she was doubly glad to see us here. After acquiring permission from the enforcers we proceeded to present the gospel. This is a hardened place. I haven't fully realized it before but man's deadness to the gospel was never more evident to me till these past outreaches. People truly are dead. They have the same responsiveness as that of a horseshoe. They are not merely ignoring us, they are totally oblivious to what was being said. They cannot he...

The sad reality of modern day Christianity is that it has been reduced to a mere concept of being good. Doctrine and correct theology is indeed essential to differentiate what is true from what is false. But theology and doctrine was never ordained to bring down God's power upon the church. The first commandment is not 'Thou shalt love doctrine and theology' , but this seems to have become the mantra for modern day Christianity.  Ask any group of young church goers to play games or music and they will happily indulge you. But rarely, if not never, will you find young people asking, nay, begging to pray instead. There is no brooding of the things of the Holy Ghost, no brokenness, no discontentment for not being able to take a hold on God. Am I being too harsh? Have you never heard of the little 7 and 8 year old children of Herrnhut, Germany who travailed and agonized in prayer? Your objection reveals your ignorance. An old puritan preacher was correct when he said, "man...

A short preaching of brethren from Dasmariñas, Cavite. May the LORD raise up more unrelenting and fiery preachers in these last days.   

A consistently overflowing crowd greeted us yesterday after crossing over to Meycauayan, Bulacan, straight to its central market where the holiday traffic gave us slow moving souls hurrying to be home by nightfall. We stood at the merging of two great intersections and on a platform perfectly seen by everyone coming from all directions. We asked permission from two Muslim women who were selling their wares on the side. We stood in between them. One was obviously resistant, The other, accommodating. Visible reactions from the crowd. The enforcers stopped to listen and for a moment I thought they were going to come to us to tell us to step down. Occupants from the establishments came out to sit by their door. Motorists parked on the side and sat. People crossed the street to ask for tracts, Judgement was proclaimed to the religious. The gospel was on display. We walked towards the second smaller intersection where the crowd was double the previous location. I believe this w...

I was finally able to minister to this place that I have had in my heart for a long time now. Deep inside a very busy market in Santa Maria, Bulacan. A mixed multitude. A great number of souls. Father has smiled on me again. Today, I am alone. And as usual, afraid. But my Father is with me.   Too many things happened all at once this week. I realized I have become busier now than when I was in the corporate world. I amuse myself thinking how my former business partners would never be found going to the places I now frequent, let alone the often muddy trail I tread just to go on errands. Life back then consisted of air-conditioned meetings, P6,000 lunch and dinner meals with foreign nationals, weekend family outs to the malls and movie houses - and then I look at my shoe now half buried in the mud and my legs soiled, walking past children on the street using cuss words that would embarrass my old workmates. I see many things that clearly outline the life I had then to the life I hav...

The street was small and very unassuming. The stalls were about to close and there wasn't much people going about. But we are reminded that even one person is still a precious soul.The LORD gave gracious insight that the true gospel has yet to be raised in this place. We thought of transferring to another location, but decided to labor here instead and started to distribute our tracts, which everyone pleasantly accepted. Our pleading bore fruit as the vendors were held captive at their posts while we openly proclaimed the penalties and consequences of sin and the saving power of the cross. Everyone was staring blankly into space as the words seemingly bore into their conscience and not a few verbally acknowledged the truth of their own ways. After that they served us with cold bottled water. The LORD is witness to their kindness. May they not lose their reward for refreshing us. The LORD still brought souls to us even on our way out, one of which was selling us food. These are ...

Excerpts from an exhortation to the blessed saints of Batia, Bulacan on Matthew 22:1-14  

We lost two weeks from sickness and the recent storm which swept thru the country almost unexpectedly that left a trail of devastation and week long floods. It was an open opportunity to remind the people how fragile this life is. The break felt long, too long, to sorely miss the brethren and labor with them. I became more desperate with the people in my plea for them to run to Christ, aware that there may be that one soul who will hear this message for the last time before his days expire and he awakens in eternity.    Proverbs 24:10-12 If you faint in the day of trouble, your strength is small! Deliver those being taken away to death, and hold back those slipping to the slaughter. If you say, “But we did not know about this,” does not the one who evaluates hearts consider? Does not the one who guards your life know? Will he not repay each person according to his deeds?

This priceless book was given to me by my beloved wife by the end of 2009. It has been raised countless times both inside our home and on the street. It has lots of notes pressed between specific passages. I thought it to be wise to preserve it while it is still (barely) in one piece, as it has already begun to fall apart. I remember coming home from my Samar trip thinking I had left it somewhere and had lost it, but when I did find it stashed at the bottom of my pack, I tightly embraced it and cried uncontrollably in gratitude that I still had it. The new bible that came is not the pure Cambridge version. It has two errors, but nothing that a quick write over cannot fix. I sorely miss my original 1611 with the dedicatory page and the translator's preface. I imagine this precious object outliving my days on earth, and perhaps being raised again by my children, or my children's children, in God's providence and due time.

I passed the time waiting for my eldest to finish her errands at one of our first places preaching the gospel: Tunku. It was a good 45 minutes of waiting for fishes to take a bite and one of the pleasant surprises was this lady who saw the front of our tracts from a good distance away, and she still reached out to take one. Watching her as she walked away while reading it, I thanked Father. Our tracts end up crumpled on the street on most Muslim areas we minister in. I wanted to drive home early in time for our scheduled Thursday public proclamations. I did not get to take a decent breakfast this morning when we left early, and it looks like I will be driving home just to change clothes and leave at once. My body is at a low these past months due to excessive all-nighters that leaves me drained and dizzy. Three hours worth of sleep for two months brought back my chest pains and my body feels like it has a fever. But another long drive for the sake of the gospel, and for gratitude's...

I will admit never to have had a love for preaching, but I love sharing the gospel with my whole soul.  

A video version of one of our podcasts. The New Life in the Old Cross. Tagalog.  May the LORD take His glory.

Despite specifically inviting only a handful of children, a large number of toddlers also came. Such chaos. But the youth teachers showed commendable zeal and determination. May the LORD teach us as a church how to handle this in a way that it bears fruit unto His glory.  

Our ride today takes us out to Malanday, Valenzuela, 17 kilometers one way. Brother Jordan is still recuperating from his operation and so it was just Jhet, my daughter and I, and a storm that is scheduled to come in tonight.The people here are strangers to the gospel, but they received it gladly, listening throughout the whole pleading. We were enabled to converse with a few souls one on one, but people came out to hear us. I have this map of Bulacan, and some markers are where we have repeatedly courted the people. Much area is left unreached. Much work to be done. Whatever small faith we have, the LORD will multiply. I am thankful that my God operates through weak and desperate people. I am going through an all time low these past weeks. God has opened unto me a great opportunity to lie helplessly before Him once again and seek Him. The word has come alive in my devotions, and He whispers sweet revelations with each seemingly unassuming verse, if there is such a verse. On our way ho...