Take heed to yourselves lest you should be void of that saving grace of God which you offer to others, and be strangers to the effectual working of that gospel which you preach; and lest, while you proclaim the necessity of a Saviour to the world, your hearts should neglect him, and you should miss of an interest in him and his saving benefits. Take heed to yourselves, lest you perish while you call upon others to take heed of perishing, and lest you famish yourselves while you prepare their food. Though there be a promise of shining as stars to those that turn many to righteousness (Daniel 12:3) , this is but on supposition that they be first turned to it themselves: such promises are made ceteris paribus, et suppositis supponendis. Their own sincerity in the faith is the condition of their glory simply considered, though their great ministerial labours may be a condition of the promise of their greater glory. Many men have warned others that they come not to that place of torment, ...

To emphasize the standard is not to be mean-spirited, nor should it be viewed as censorious. We exercise the same judgement when trusting our health to the diagnosis of a qualified physician, or place ourselves under the knife of a qualified surgeon. But the ministerial office is qualified by God Himself. Theological schooling is very important. But how do you measure education when in our day, every school claims to be truthful while contradicting each other on doctrinal interpretation? And even so, to be proficient theologically, or to confess to a creed, does not necessarily mean one is spiritually born again. When this requirement is set aside, everyone is ministry is legitimately correct, and the line between mere human knowledge and heaven-sent unction is blurred. *************** We are not among those who accept the apostolical succession of young men simply because they assume it; if their college experience has been rather vivacious than spiritual, if their honours have been c...

For years have I sat under emotional and academic yet lifeless preaching about repeated affirmations of basic truths. It merely stunted my growth. But I believed I had to sit through it because it was the program, and I convinced others to do the same. The glaring truth stared me in my face the whole time yet I closed my eyes because the system was set up as such, that I had to be bodily present, never mind if my spirit remained unfed. It was assumed that the Spirit was always present in the external exercises, but the lives of those who sat with me told differently as they remained lethargic and uninterested. In our first church, it was about the grandeur of gifts, achievements and humanism. In our second, comfort, richness, and identity. With our third, which professed to be reformed in doctrine but definitely not in deed, it was timidity and dead religion. There was rampant gossiping, backbiting, and taking sides. The pastor was then in a secret relationship with the youth leader wh...

April 2024 recording, Song of Solomon Chapter 1: Ito ang pinakamagandang awit ni Solomon: Ang Unang Awit Babae: Akong ito'y pinupupog, sinisiil mo ng halik; ang dulot ng pag-ibig mo'y mainam pa sa alak. Ang taglay mong halimuyak, saan kaya itutulad? Simbango ng pangalan mong ang samyo'y malaganap, kaya lahat ng dalaga ay iyo ngang nabibihag. Ako ngayon ay narito, isama mo kahit saan, at ako ay iyong dalhin sa silid mong pahingahan. Tiyak akong liligaya ngayong ikaw ay narito, ang nais ko ay madama ang alab ng pag-ibig mo; pagsinta mo'y mas gusto ko kaysa alinmang inumin; hindi ako nagkamali na ikaw nga ang ibigin. Dalaga sa Jerusalem, ang ganda ko'y kayumanggi; katulad ko'y mga toldang sa Kedar pa niyayari, tulad ko ri'y mga tabing sa palasyo ng hari. Huwag akong hahamakin nang dahil sa aking kulay, pagkat itong aking balat ay nasunog lang sa araw. Itong mga kapatid ko'y hindi ako kinalugdan, nagkaisa silang ako'y pagbantayin ng ubasan.  ...

It is a prevailing and most disingenuous practice that the advocates for sodomy do ever resort to the citing of Ezekiel, the sixteenth chapter and the forty-ninth verse. They deploy this partial truth as a mere shield, hoping to deflect the righteous argument away from the explicit, burning sin of unholiness and onto the more palatable vice of neglect for the needy. Yet, mark this insidious deceit. They invariably, and most shamefully, cease their reading precisely at that forty-ninth verse, deliberately shrinking away from the awful, concluding sentence of the passage. Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom, PRIDE , fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.  They were PROUD , and committed ABOMINATION before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good. Ezekiel 16:49-50 He who believes on the Son has everlasting life: and he who does not believe on the Son shall not se...

Pat, as he is simply called, is a servant of the Lord with a passion for the proclamation of Christ. I had the honor of meeting him and his beloved wife Sarah during the rebellion march at University of the Philippines last Saturday. This meeting has been long overdue. God is gracious indeed.  I have been with a handful of  men in the past who for a time preached Christ in public but went back to comfort and silence. They did not continue or persevere in it. It was just a phase. Perhaps the reason they did it was because it was a "Christian" thing to do and there were others to do it with. However, true calling is demonstrated when men follow through even when others have abandoned you. I have lost count the number of messages I've received along the lines of, 'I want to preach with you.' or 'do you have Facebook so I can follow because I want to preach?' Even, 'I have a burden to preach. Do you give instructions?'  The question is not, do ...

Upon learning, two weeks past, of the assembly of the sodomites scheduled for the twenty-eighth day in Quezon City, our hearts were immediately drawn to the Lord's high court. We immediately instituted overnight prayer meetings, convening between the solemn hours of two and four in the morning. For we hold fast to the conviction that every battle undertaken in behalf of the Kingdom of Christ is won on our knees, and that our Lord's perfect victory upon the Cross was secured and made possible by that pivotal, agonizing moment of wrestling He endured in Gethsemane the night preceding His crucifixion. A great earnestness seized the assembly, and all souls were desirous of participating; alas, our small carriage could accommodate but five brethren. Thus, the remaining faithful were compelled to endure the effort of traversing great distances from Makati and Bulacan. Some did willingly sacrifice their very day of rest from their work, whilst others journeyed directly after concludin...

When our blessed Lord spoke those luminous words, "You people are from below; I am from above. You people are from this world; I am not from this world" (John 8:23) , He was expressing a sense of belonging that transcends every experience, every attachment, and every fleeting treasure we may ever know on this mortal side of eternity. Christ is, eternally and essentially, from above; and thus, by the sheer, unmerited election of grace, are we, the adopted children of God, also declared to be. To receive into our hearts the declaration of His subsequent testimony, "but I have chosen you out of the world, that is why the world hates you," is to realize how incomparably special the believer is held in the discerning eyes of the Almighty. In this divine transaction, God the Father offers nothing less than the entirety of who He is, manifesting His full being in the person of the most valuable treasure in all of heaven—the promised Messiah, Christ Jesus. This is the hig...

I confess that I nearly did not address them at all, for my flesh was apprehensive, as it so often is, and my mind was utterly void of anything resembling a ready compliment or a hint of genuine charity. Two full days had passed without the proper benefit of rest, and burdened as I was by a myriad of urgent affairs, my faculties were naturally quite dulled. Indeed, my only earnest desire was that my physical frame might, for one rare instance, be granted sleep, and that my troubled thoughts might finally consent to the same peace. The simple necessity of securing a place to pass time—a brief interval of private relief—led me to this spot, immediately after having conveyed my beloved wife and daughters to the hospital for their consultation. This sacred site, the environs of the Parish of St. Martin of Tours, sits within the bustling Bocaue Town Proper. Upon my entrance, and after settling the required toll, I was immediately beset by a small, importunate company of boys, perhaps ...

It is of grace that we are compelled to conclude the church's three-day prayer meeting, deliberately appointed for the solemn hour of three of the clock in the morning. By this inconvenience, we intend to emphasize the dire urgency in petitioning the hand of the Lord to bestow upon us greater spiritual blessings, most especially in the sacred area of prayer itself. It is common practice to offer God the spare remnants of our time; yet, to truly apprehend the evil of these days, we must relinquish the hours allotted for ease and rest, choosing instead to knock early upon the door of the just Judge. He is one who not only doth not slumber, but who takes a peculiar and great pleasure in answering those who stand confidently at His divine courts, firmly believing that He will perform His promise. The effective execution of the children's church, the power of our public preaching, the fervency of private devotions, the profitable reading of the Scripture in family worship: all thes...

As we made our weary journey homeward, the Lord guided our steps to visit a dear brother in Quezon City, who is currently passing through a most difficult and trying chapter of his pilgrimage. His physical frame is sorely vexed, having wrestled these many months with a severe affliction of the back—a pain so sharp and persistent that even the simplest motions are rendered excruciating to him. Yet, this trial is compounded by a heavier concern: he is now facing the disheartening prospect of being stripped of his earthly livelihood, for his body can no longer sustain the demands of his daily employ. His strength doth fail him for his duties. May the God of all comfort minister to his body, sustain his spirit amidst this double chastisement, and show him that even this crucible of affliction is measured out by the hand of the Sovereign Physician for the eternal profit of his soul! Photo by K The visit was, alas, of brief duration, yet it afforded us the cherished opportunity to share a si...

This would be the first post of a very long backlog that I hope to fill after nine months of not blogging. Since my last post in August, a lot has happened, the majority of which has been related to daily Family Worship. Being overwhelmed and exhausted was what took up the greater part of the missing time. As things begin to wind down, I will try again to resume documenting from where I left off. Sometime in December last (if my failing memory serves its duty), I received a casual invitation from Pastor Nate Sonner of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Dumaguete. The invitation concerned a conference upon the matter of planting biblical and reformed churches, scheduled for the nineteenth day of May, with Dr. Al Baker of Vanguard Presbytery as the designated speaker. I confess I did not initially ponder the matter deeply, yet I went forth in simple faith and extended the invitation to several of the brethren in our gathering. Immediately, a plan was hatched: we began the consistent,...