FAIR SUNSHINE

Help me, O LORD God, my strength. Judge us. In the power of thine Spirit, lift up the glory of your name. Revive the weak. Quicken and harden whom thou wilt. But proclaim, redeem the reverence of your name. Let the words of your mouth devour the proud. Let all those who are against your Christ be found as liars. Thou art the first and the last, who died, and art now alive forevermore. Thou art God, the one true LORD of heaven and earth. Of the kingdoms, seen and unseen. The Christ whom the Father hath exalted, The Almighty who now sits upon the throne of power. The righteous Judge and merciful Savior. Glorify thy name in this life thou hast redeemed. The more I am enabled to proclaim the majesty of God, the more I am discouraged at myself. It is a striking paradox of this ministry—that as the glory of the Creator is lifted up, the unworthiness of the creature is laid bare. In the light of His holiness, my own wretchedness becomes more pronounced, leaving me to mar...

M any things may happen outside of our own careful planning, yet the day invariably ends with God being praised for the sovereign hand He lays upon all our affairs. I ended up where I didn't plan to be but did what I was supposed to do. I did not know where to go, so I drove north toward Pandi for an hour, hoping to find a well-populated location to preach; yet there was really none to be found. The long drive began to feel like a waste, a fruitless expenditure of time and gas. Still, I stayed on that unfamiliar road until the aimlessness became unbearable, and I stopped by the side of the road at Bustos to ask for divine assistance on where I was to go. I had already passed the roads that would have taken me back home, but I refused to end this day with nothing. This particular location came to mind. But it was forty three kilometers going the opposite south. Without reasoning against it, I immediately turned back and took the Bypass straight to Balagtas, exiting at MacArthur Hig...

T his age suffers from an erosion of values brought about by fast-changing times and, more grievously, a generation that does not know God. There was a time when womanhood was defined by a fear of the Lord; yet that definition has since almost died out as focus shifted toward the superficialities of mere religion and outward morality. Virtue and holiness—the very foundations of character that are so often absent in our reality—are now sought after in every facet of society other than the Scriptures. The Biblical Womanhood channel is a mother's burden to call the remnant of the flock not to be conformed to the wiles of this world but to return to the old paths. It is an invitation to leave the empty husks of modern thought and return to the life-giving Bread of the Word. We hope to see you there as we seek the good way together. Join the Conversation: Who: Women When: Thursdays Time: 5:00-5:30 PM PST Telegram Link Charm is deceitful and beauty will fade away, but a woman who fears ...

T here have been many times when I would judge the day to be insignificant, concluding that remaining comfortably in my home after the worship service would be entirely appropriate. My mind is quick to offer excuses—going out in this heat would be torture, I have just given a message to the sheep, or the usual indifference of the people. Yet, these are the very same days that leave me filled with gratitude that I did not heed my own excuses and stepped out into the field anyway. I am reminded that we are poor judges of the Lord's timing. The days I am most tempted to settle into the shade are often the days God has appointed for the light to shine through our witness. We step out in weakness, often against our own inclinations, only to find that the field was ready and waiting for the sower to simply appear. Luke 19:28-44 After the midday gathering, I knelt before the L ORD in my study, spreading my soul out before Him in utter helplessness. I was pressed...

Such is the kingdom of God, as if a man put seed in the earth. He goes to sleep and gets up, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows, though he knows not how. By itself the soil produces a crop, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. Mark 4:26-28  S piritual growth follows the quiet, unchanging law of the harvest. It works exactly like a seed cast into the furrow of a field—a steady process that brings forth remarkable results silently. Just as the seed, buried deep in the earth, eventually forces its way upward to the light, so the message of faith will inevitably manifest itself in a person’s life once it has taken root in the heart. The transformation is as undeniable as it is profound. One may look upon a field that was once brown and barren, appearing to the eye as dead; yet, in the fullness of time, it is suddenly covered in a bright and pleasant carpet of green sprouts. So it is with the soul: what was once a desert of indiffe...

I t was one of those rare instance where I was granted the privilege of lifting up the name of Christ before the day had even reached noon. I had accompanied my wife to the market, and while she went about her domestic errands, I remained outside pacing the grounds, searching for that particular spot where the greatest concentration of souls might be found. I eventually settled upon a corner, yet it was a spot unfavorable. There was no shade, not even a single wandering cloud over the location; the sun was out in its full strength, beating down with a relentless and scorching heat that I could not tell whether my eyes were teary or sweating. I stood there, a witness offering myself for the sake of the Word. I was steady in the realization that this temporary heat—this burning of the sun—was the worst I would ever have to endure in this life. But as I watched the crowds, conviction took hold. I knew that for these souls, if they were to die apart from Christ, this blistering noon w...

T his day unfolded as a series of seemingly disjointed and unplanned threads, which only became clearer as the hand of Providence wove everything into place. It was by the Lord’s sovereign direction that this afternoon's errand led me to our accustomed place of Sunday gathering; and there, while awaiting my wife’s return, I set myself to the work. I intended to distribute tracts among the passersby, all the while keeping a watchful eye for a station where I might lift up the Gospel, should the opportunity present itself. I saw a pair of Watchtower emissaries plying their wares within the shelter of the kiosk, and my heart was stirred with a hope to engage them in discourse. My previous encounter with their sort had remained a ragged, open-ended affair, concluded only when their leader advised me to seek the counsel of a psychiatrist rather than the face of God. I moved among those resting there, dealing out a few flyers to the gathered souls, and in the course of the work, I exte...

T his particular junction of Bigte, in Norzagaray, has long been a burden for me—a place where I have desired to lift up the voice of the Gospel for many a season. It is a location where three main thoroughfares of Bulacan converge, a crossroads that is never without a multitude hurrying toward their various earthly errands. Three times before, I had allowed the opportunity to pass me by, permitting the cares of the day or the hesitations of the flesh to forestall the work. Yet, on this day, I set my face like a flint. I spoke with a firm intent to my own heart: "I am going today." I would no longer dally with delay nor allow my own convenience to rob the Master of His service today. It was a day to go where the spirit had long since yearned. The area is a vast and bustling expanse, a central hub where the commerce of the world and the authority of man sit side by side. Here, the marketplace teems with activity, surrounded by a police station, and different termin...