News about religious groups disagreeing, splitting or filing cases would reach our laptops while we chat, surf or just simply check our accounts. These news often include as well persecution of thriving Christian communities in closed or far flung countries and decline of church attendances in the United States and Europe. We are given an impression that name-call Christianity or religiosity itself is declining in a grand scale around the world. The news of Atheist bus campaigns in Western Europe and recently Atheist jeep campaigns in the Philippines would seal off the veracity of these disturbing new developments, or should I recession? These recession of religious and/or spiritual values have been the subject of sermons from pulpits and cathedras yet what is the whole truth? Is the world really falling to recession or is it just their apparent denial of something they so longed themselves as well?

Yesterday, I watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 7 Part 2 in Trinoma Cinema. I had the pleasure of relishing the details of the movie being alone being seats apart from my stranger-neighbors. The movie was full of action and drama but what struck me was not the fight scenes or the battle between Harry Potter and Voldemort itself but the recollection of Snape’s memories encapsuled in his tear. It was not the fact that Snape had a “past” with Harry’s mother or his secret protection on him but the fact that Harry Potter really has to die for him to defeat the evil lord. Dying so that all men (muggles and wizards) may live? This seems so familiar and actually unsettling for this is a Christological theme in itself that the Messiah who will be the Savior of the world has to die so that all men may live. Even though the author JK Rowling identifies her membership with the Church of Scotland, her religious convictions are questionable. I should also mention that it is not only her writings that have a “Savior Theme” on it but many other writings by people that are in fact of other religious convictions? So, what does this tell us?

Literatures from across corners of the Globe have often been obsessed with an idea of a Savior saving them from harm or disgrace but often, they are treated merely as literature and not actual religious convictions or text. Harry Potter and many other writings confirm something I have been suspecting long before; people want a Savior but they do not know who that Savior really is. These obsession with having a Savior produced a pantheon of heroes that span from our very own Lam-ang for example to Captain Planet of our present time. The production of more fantasy heroes does not stop there as well for many more are being made along the assembly plant of imaginative minds. In the present time, this obsession has turned into denial. Some people such as some Jews who have undergone the Holocaust have given up on a Savior altogether. People know they need a Savior yet they do not know Him and deny Christ as their Savior. What happened here? They know they need a Savior yet they rejected the Savior Himself and instead drown themselves from these “saviors” that only exist in their minds. What did Christ save us from anyway?

This takes us back to the conversation of Jesus with Nicodemus, a teacher of the law in John 3:1-21. From her we get John 3:16 which is the ever famous verses that everyone seems to have memorized. From this single verse we get the answer to our question; Christ saved us from death but the question also goes; what kind of death? Don’t we all die anyway? Apostle Paul’s Epistle to the Romans especially in Chapters 5 to 7 talks about death, not just physical death but spiritual death that sin brought to mankind. This death is separation from God. Just as physical death is separation from the spirit which gives life, spiritual death is the separation from God which is the giver of all life. The ultimate penalty for our sin is eternal death in hell, a place of eternal separation from God. This is what Christ saved us from this kind of death. This same death is the very reason why we experience pain and suffering on earth, this we will feel as we continue on our life here. The very reason people deny the Savior over a man-made savior is because they only see salvation from the surface problems that men see, failing to acknowledge the inherent source of it all.

People need a Savior but they do not know Him. Oftentimes, they a rumor of a Savior and will often hear about Christ in passing but without someone telling them who the real Savior is and what He did for us, the Savior Christ will just remain as a dream for them. Religions fall but this pressing need of a Savior will continue to stir in their hearts. Why leave the people to dream and hear about Him in someone else’s form if you yourself can tell men Who He is? In the story of Harry Potter, Harry Potter assumed evil himself when a part of Voldemort (French for “flight of death”) was buried deep inside him, he suffered in the hands of people, he died, he lived again and he defeated death himself but he will continue to be just Harry Potter of fiction, the product of JK Rowling’s imaginative mind. If people can immerse their whole childhood in their fictional savior, how much more for a real one? Maybe its time for you to tell them that a real man lived, suffered, became sin for us, died, rose again from the grave and defeated death itself. He is real! He lived and still lives up to this day – He is Jesus Christ!

LOVE – the singlemost word that every culture has a word. The Chinese have the single character 愛 (ai), while the Greeks have a number but four were immortalized by CS Lewis namely, στοργή (storge), φιλíα (philia), ἔρως (eros) and ἀγάπη (agape). We Filipino have two which are namely pagmamahal and pag-ibig in Tagalog or pagpalangga and paghigugma in my native Hiligaynon. If the knowledge of love cuts across cultures and is a common human experience, what is it then? In today’s society, love is the maxim of the younger generations clamor. Everyone wants to be loved but where should one look for love?

I attended the evening service at Greenhills Christian Fellowship yesterday and the pulpit was assigned to Elder Ed Trono. He said something that I agree the most; love is the hardest topic to preach. 1 Corinthians 13 gives us a detail of what love is and is not. To some, this are merely a checklist that one has to follow to ensure one goes within the scope of love but when one examines it, it would be the hardest checklist to accomplish not just in a day but for the whole lifetime, frustrating for all of us. Apostle Paul wrote this exhortation on love to a problematic church which has been in a divisive strife. Not so different from the present church, isn’t it? Paul’s exhortation not only cuts across the problems of the Corinthian Church but the very problem of humanity.

Personally, I have to stop, think and take a deep breath while writing this article myself. Studying and writing about love is one humbling experience for my family themselves can attest I am not much of a loving person that in fact, I am more loving to others than to them. I guess it is hard to love someone who knows your weakness and are very critical, dogmatic, historical and even hysterical or what not about it, isn’t it? One does not have to read further than verses four to seven of 1 Corinthians 13 to fell guilty of not loving at all. In fact, I was in a partial state of denial even after Elder Ed Trono’s sermon! How can one not be guilty when love is described as patient, kind, not boastful, not envious, not proud, not dishonorable, not selfish, not provocative and not judgmental? I think not one of us can attest being these and certainly love has got an opposite – me!

Why did God have to enlighten apostle Paul with His word about love when all of these seems impossible to accomplish? There is a question we need to answer; do we have to rely on ourselves to be what love is or do we need some help? An atheist jeep campaign has been launched lately with the premise that we can be good and love without God. We can be good but by whose standards and certainly, how can we love truly? Our God is the God of order and he brought to order this world not just because he felt lonely or he has it in his whim but because of love. Certainly when we struggle with loving, we turn to someone who made it all. In our limited capacity, we can never love truly and only the Creator of love can guide us through all our struggle. There is the Holy Spirit which he sent as His Guide and Comforter to those who have a loving relationship with Him. Our relationship with God teaches us to be more like him everyday. We can be the least loving of all people but certainly we we have God’s grace to redeem us from an unloving heart.

As I pray everyday, I always pray that God will teach me how to love. I need to learn more as God puts the burden in my heart as He stretches my faith to love all the more the unlovable, strangers and my own enemies. Imagine if all know how to love, would we still see wars dividing nation afte nation, families broken apart by misunderstanding and countries buried in corrupting, selfish hatred? The world where love abounds certainly is a utopian and not of this world but it is certainly not impossible to love. It all starts in your relationship and how you treat others within your immediate circle. Wouldn’t it be better if we treat others in the light of love where your wish to be understood will most certainly be? Love certainly is the more excellent way.

Psalm 133:1, NIV 2011

¹ How good and pleasant it is
when God’s people live together in unity!

There could be no happier moment than to write a Bible 365 Reflection again on my blog. Reading carefully the reading selection for Bible 365 today, I could not help but notice Psalm 133:1. It has been a passage that I came across from time to time, memorable is the last lesson I taught in the mid-teens Sunday School half a decade ago and a short devo in a small get-together of campus leaders from various churches. I cannot help but connect it to the preaching lesson of Senior Pastor, Dr. Larry Pabiona yesterday. In what could be a detailed moment of Christ in deep prayer, he prayed for the unity of his present and future. What could unite the diverse people of God? Love, the love of God and the love of His people. Love sets above the laws of God by which obedience can only be possible.

For decades, love has not been a defining feature of the Church. Countless wars, schisms and heresies have oppressed the body of Christ. In the guise of the love of God, a few men slaughtered many while in the guise of the love of God’s people, a few have deviated from God’s teaching. Few realized that in order for one to love God fully, he must love His people fully and in order to love His people fully, he must love God fully. The evidence of perfected love is the unity of His people. What can be a more beautiful image than to see God’s people from every tribe, tongue, culture in peace and worshipping God together. O, that must be a beautiful sight to behold when Christ comes again fulfilling the perfect image of His fellowship in this psalm.

Psalm 33:1-22, NIV 1984

¹ Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
² Praise the LORD with the harp;
make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
³ Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully, and shout for joy.

⁴ For the word of the LORD is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.
⁵ The LORD loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of his unfailing love.

⁶ By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
⁷ He gathers the waters of the sea into jars;
he puts the deep into storehouses.
⁸ Let all the earth fear the LORD;
let all the people of the world revere him.
⁹ For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.

¹⁰ The LORD foils the plans of the nations;
he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
¹¹ But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations.

¹² Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he chose for his inheritance.
¹³ From heaven the LORD looks down
and sees all mankind;
¹⁴ from his dwelling place he watches
all who live on earth—
¹⁵ he who forms the hearts of all,
who considers everything they do.

¹⁶ No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.
¹⁷ A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all its great strength it cannot save.
¹⁸ But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
¹⁹ to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.

²⁰ We wait in hope for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.
²¹ In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
²² May your unfailing love be with us, LORD,
even as we put our hope in you.

When I saw that the Bible 365 Readings are from Psalms 31 – 36, my heart jumped with joy as I encountered again the verse that at one point in life was my life verse. It was the words of Psalm 4 which says “For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does,” that directed my path in my early years of Christian life. That was the time when my family was facing a deep financial crisis that almost crippled every plans we had ahead. In the midst of those uncertainty, this verse is what I held on too. The promises of God would never fail you.

As we progress through the Psalms, the messages of His word deepens with regard to our daily struggle in life. In fact, a majority of the Psalms talks about the personal struggles of King David and the struggles of the nation of Israel. Psalm 33 is oozing full of praises to the Lord as He fulfills His promises to us. Though mentioned are the fate of those who oppose the people of God, the psalm never fails to exalt God to the highest praise.

In times of troubles, it is hard for us to think of praises to God but it is in these that we will be able to see clearly how God works in our lives to sustain us daily. Let us not fail to remember the promises of God. Keep in mind how He has blessed you for surely He will bless you all the more. Faithfulness exalts the Lord and His people all the more. Faith, Hope and Love is the flagship of our daily Christian living. As I remember how this verse blessed me in the past, I cannot help but praise Him for the blessings I now enjoy. He has been and still is faithful indeed.

Psalm 25:1-22, NIV 1984

¹ In you, LORD my God,
I put my trust.

² I trust in you;
do not let me be put to shame,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.
³ No one who hopes in you
will ever be put to shame,
but shame will come on those
who are treacherous without cause.

⁴ Show me your ways, LORD,
teach me your paths.
⁵ Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.
⁶ Remember, LORD, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old.
⁷ Do not remember the sins of my youth
and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
for you, LORD, are good.

⁸ Good and upright is the LORD;
therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
⁹ He guides the humble in what is right
and teaches them his way.
¹⁰ All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful
toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.
¹¹ For the sake of your name, LORD,
forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

¹² Who, then, are those who fear the LORD?
He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.
¹³ They will spend their days in prosperity,
and their descendants will inherit the land.
¹⁴ The LORD confides in those who fear him;
he makes his covenant known to them.
¹⁵ My eyes are ever on the LORD,
for only he will release my feet from the snare.

¹⁶ Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
¹⁷ Relieve the troubles of my heart
and free me from my anguish.
¹⁸ Look on my affliction and my distress
and take away all my sins.
¹⁹ See how numerous are my enemies
and how fiercely they hate me!

²⁰ Guard my life and rescue me;
do not let me be put to shame,
for I take refuge in you.
²¹ May integrity and uprightness protect me,
because my hope, LORD, is in you.

²² Deliver Israel, O God,
from all their troubles!

I remember when I was a child, I was so excited whenever my relatives from the United States would go home. If I am lucky enough, I would receive a earnest sum of crispy $1 bills from them. Perhaps everyone of you have already handled several US dollar bills all your life and one feature of the bill looks like this…

In the middle of the back portion of a $1 flashes the motto “In God We Trust”. Out of place as it is for a nation that is now heavily secularized, the “In God We Trust” continues to be a rallying point of Christians in daily living. God is sovereign over our lives and if there is anyone who we can ever trust, it is God. Thousands of years ago, King David faced a similar crisis in the fledgling state of Kingdom of Israel. Their enemies surround them from all sides and oftentimes threaten to invade the small nation. For a people in need, “In God We Trust” ever becomes a light in a dark moment.

This psalm of David starts with the exalting cry to God for their trust in Him. At this time, the words of David exclaim desperation and how the enemies threaten to shame him. As he pleads for God, he ask for the forgiveness of God over his sins and asks for the Lord’s salvation over his present predicament. He knows that the Lord will lead him in all this and all the promises He has made. In our daily life, we experience similar predicaments as King David. Big or small, our predicaments are ways of God for us to put our whole trust in His mighty power. He has authority over our sinfulness and our lives and He will never forsake us.

As you face life with uncertainty, may you reflect on the words of David’s psalm. May this make an impact in your countless struggles in life. No problem is big when your trust is in the Lord. His ways are made in love and faithfulness for us, these never fail.

Psalm 24:1-10, NIV 1984

¹ The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;
² for he founded it on the seas
and established it on the waters.

³ Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD?
Who may stand in his holy place?
⁴ The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not trust in an idol
or swear by a false god.

⁵ They will receive blessing from the LORD
and vindication from God their Savior.
⁶ Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek your face, God of Jacob.

⁷ Lift up your heads, you gates;
be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
⁸ Who is this King of glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
the LORD mighty in battle.
⁹ Lift up your heads, you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
¹⁰ Who is he, this King of glory?
The LORD Almighty—
he is the King of glory.

I have heard several kinds of music but nothing goes beyond the beauty of the Psalms that inspired so many generations. The intricate mix of God’s sovereign word and the eternal music of God’s greatness makes these collection of ancient Israelite hymns immortal. The original tune and melody may have been lost in time but its eternal melody resonates the hearts of ancient hymn writers and modern Christian musicians alike. Psalm 24 is one of the countless psalms that inspired beautiful music like “Give Us Clean Hands” from Psalm 24:4 and “Glory” Psalm 24:7-10. They may not be the exact melodies and tunes to the original music but one thing’s for sure, they are in tune to God’s plan for our lives.

This psalm gives us two messages that are important in our path to Christ-likeness, giving one’s self for God’s cleansing grace and letting Him reside in your heart as the captain that steers your path. They both go together as the path to a righteous and fruitful life in God. Its is not enough that you make Him renovate the outer look of your heart but also what’s deep within us. We must let Him in! He alone can make you worthy to face an everlasting Father resonating brightly His holiness and power. No matter what challenges you experience like those mentioned in the preceding psalms, you will always face the time that you have to face God personally. He alone can make us dwell in the light of His glory and grace.