The Door Full of Surrender

But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold. ~ Job 23:10

I was recently sitting with the leader of a workplace organization as he described a question he poses to workplace believers. "What if there were two doors to choose from; behind one door was the complete will of God for your life and behind the other door was how life could be according to your own preference.

Which door would you choose?" The struggle for most lies in the desire to follow God completely and the fear of what might be behind the door of full surrender. Most of us desire to follow God, but few of us will do it at any cost. We do not really believe that God loves us to the degree that we are willing to give Him complete permission to do as He wills in us.

If we desire to fully walk with Christ, there is a cost. We may give intellectual assent and go along with His principles and do fine; however, if we are fully given over to Him and His will for our life, it will be a life that will have adversity. The Bible is clear that humans do not achieve greatness without having their sinful will broken. This process is designed to create a nature change in each of us, not just a habit change. The Bible calls it circumcision. Circumcision is painful, bloody, and personal.

If God has plans to greatly use you in the lives of others, you can expect your trials to be even greater than those of others. Why? Because, like Joseph who went through greater trials than most patriarchs, your calling may have such responsibility that God cannot afford to entrust it to you without ensuring your complete faithfulness to the call. He has much invested in you on behalf of others. He may want to speak through your life to a greater degree than through another. The events of your life would become the frame for the message He wants to speak through you.

Do not fear the path that God may lead you on. Embrace it. For God may bring you down a path in your life to ensure the reward of your inheritance. "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all" (2 Cor. 4:17)
..

A Statement on the Call for President Arroyo's Resignation

Statement of NCCP in the Current Philippine Political Crisis: A STATEMENT ON THE CALL FOR PRESIDENT ARROYO’S RESIGNATION The National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) and its 13 million constituents along with the vast majority of the Filipino people call for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s resignation on the basis of the so-called “Gloria-gate” tapes. Truth and justice must reign. President Arroyo ended her silence by admitting that, indeed, she made the phone call to “a COMELEC official”. While she was apologetic, she explained that this was done to “protect her votes” and not to influence the outcome of the elections. We are saddened that she should be concerned about protecting her votes, when as President, it is the people’s well-being that she should protect. Her admission does not allay the people’s doubts about the honesty and genuineness of the election results. Beyond her entanglement in this unfortunate happening, the President continues to be answerable to the people as regards her economic policies which have aggravated the impoverishment and disempowerment of the marginalized. Large-scale mining by foreign companies has been revitalized. Prices have managed to steadily increase. Attacks on civil liberties and intensifying political repression have been the government’s response to people’s expressions of their legitimate demands. For us church people, we cannot claim to be unmoved by the president’s apology. But there are far too many events such as the killings of Mr. Joel Baclao, Fr.William Tadena, Rev. Edison Lapuz, journalists, legal defenders, local officials and other peace advocates that have passed without a word from her. And we have no illusions that this will change after the phone conversation admission. She will forever be hauntedand hounded by people’s questions about her moral ascendancy and legitimacy to lead this country. The most honorable thing for her to do now is to resign. A country can only be strong if it is led by one who enjoys the trust, respect and support of the broad masses of the people. July 6, 2005

"Christ Above All"

Why go to church?

Why Go To Church?

A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of anewspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. "I've gone for 30years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heardsomething like3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them... So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all."

This started a real controversy in the "Letters to theEditor" column,much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someonewrote this clincher:

"I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this... They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed todo my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would bespiritually dead today!"

When you are DOWN to nothing.... God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible! Thank God for our physical AND our spiritual nourishment!

The 3 Visitors

THE THREE VISITORSA woman came home and saw three old men sitting inher frontyard. She did not recognize them but invited themto enterher house to have something to eat. They asked,Is the manof the house, home? She said, No, he is out!Then wecannot come in, they replied. When her husbandreturned,she told him what had happened, and he told her toinvitethem in. When she invited them, they replied, Wecannot gointo the house together. One of the old manexplained: Hisname is Wealth, he said, pointing to one of hisfriends,and pointing to the other one, He is Success. Iam Love.Now go in and discuss with your husband which oneof us youwant in your home.The couple had a discussion. The husband wanted toinviteWealth, in order to fill their home with wealth.The wife onthe other hand wanted to invite Success. Theirdaughterheard the commotion, and came to join thediscussion. Shesaid that it would be better to invite Love sothat theirhome will be filled with love. Finally the coupleagreed tofollow the daughters advice. The wife went out toinviteLove as their guest. Love started walking into thehouse.The other two men also got up and followed him.Surprised,the lady asked Wealth and Success, I invitedLove. Why areyou two coming in?The old men replied together, If you had invitedWealth orSuccess, the other two of us would have stayedout, butsince you invited Love, wherever he goes, we gowith him.Wherever there is Love, there is also Wealth andSuccess!SUCCESS PRINCIPLESWealth and success will be meaningless withoutlove. We needlove in our life if we want to live with joy.Wealth andsuccess without love within our family and lovedones willbe of little value. What is the use of havingwealth andsuccess when there is no one to share it with,especiallywith our spouse and children.

For All the Mothers

This is for all the mothers who DIDN'T win Mother of the Year last year, all the runners-up and all the wannabes. Including the mothers too tired to enter or too busy to care.

This is for all the mothers who froze their buns off on metal bleachers at soccer games on Friday night, instead of watching from cars. So that when their kids asked, "Did you see my goal?" They could say, "Of course, wouldn't have missed it for the world," and mean it.

This is for all the mothers who have sat up all night with sick toddlers in their arms, wiping up barf laced with Oscar Mayer wieners and cherry Kool-Aid saying, "It's OK honey, Mommy's here."

This is for the mothers who gave birth to babies they'll never see, and the mothers who took those
babies and made them homes.

This is for all the mothers of the victims of school shootings, and the mothers of the murderers. For the mothers of the survivors, and the mothers who sat in front of their TVs in horror, hugging their child who just came home
from school, safely.

This is for all the mothers who run carpools and make cookies and sew Halloween costumes, and all
the mothers who DON'T.

What makes a good mother anyway? Is it patience?
CompASSion? Broad hips?

Is it the ability to nurse a baby, cook dinner, and sew a button on a shirt, all at the same time? Or is it heart?

Is it the ache you feel when you watch your son or daughter disappear down the street, walking to school alone for the very first time?

Is it the jolt that takes you from sleep to dread, as you bound from bed to crib at 2 a.m. to put your hand on the back of a sleeping baby?

Is it the need to flee from wherever you are and hug your child when you hear news of a school shooting, a fire, a car accident, or a baby dying?

I think so.

So this is for all the mothers who sat down with their children and explained all about making babies, and for all the mothers who wanted to but just couldn't.

This is for reading "Goodnight, Moon" twice a night for a year. And then reading it again. "Just one more time."

This is for all the mothers who mess up. Who yell at their kids in the grocery store and swat them in despair and stomp their feet like a tired 2 year old who wants ice cream before dinner.

This is for all the mothers who taught their daughters to tie their shoelaces before they started school. And for all the mothers who opted for Velcro instead.

This is for all the mother who bite their lips-sometimes until they bleed-when their 14 year olds dye their hair green. Who lock themselves in the bathroom when babies keep crying and won't stop.

This is for all the mothers who show up at work with spit-up in their hair and milk stains on their blouses and diapers in their purse.

This is for all the mothers who teach their sons to cook and their daughters to sink a jump shot.

This is for all mothers whose heads turn automatically when a little voice calls "Mom?" in a crowd, even though they know their own offspring are at home.

This is for mothers who put pinwheels and teddy bears on their children's graves.

This is for mothers whose children have gone astray, who can't find the words to reach them.

This is for all the mothers who sent their sons to school with stomachaches, assuring them they'd be just FINE once they got there, only to get calls from the school nurse and hour later asking them to please pick them up, right away.

This is for young mothers stumbling through diaper changes and sleep deprivation, and mature mothers learning to let go.

This is for working mothers and stay-at-home mothers, single mothers and married mothers, mothers with money, and mothers without.

This is for you all. So hang in there!;-)

-Anonymous mother

Christmas Message

Easy vs. Hard

Why is it so hard to tell the truth but Yet so easy to tell a lie?

Why are we so sleepy in church but Right when the sermon is over we suddenly wake up?

Why is it so hard to talk about God but yet so Easy to talk about nasty stuff?

Why is it so boring to look at a Christian magazine But yet so easy to look at a nasty one?

Why is it so easy to delete a Godly e-mail but Yet we forward all of the nasty ones?

Why are the churches getting smaller but yet The bars and dance clubs are getting larger?

Do you give up?

Think about it ... Just remember, God is watching you.

Prayer Wheel. Let's see if the devil will stop this one ! Here's what the wheel is all about. When you read this, say a prayer for any person.... That's all you have to do.... There is nothing attached.... This is so powerful.... You may repost this blog and experience God's answer to prayer in your life.

Do not stop the wheel, please .... Of all the free gifts we may receive, Prayer is the very best one.... There are no costs, but wonderful rewards... GOD BLESS!

May there always be work for your hands to do;
May your purse always hold a coin or two;
May the sun always shine on your windowpane;
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain;
May the hand of a friend always be near you;
and May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer

Christ Above All...

Merry Christmas

Hypocrites

One Sunday morning during service, a 2,000
member congregation was surprised to see
two
men enter, both covered from head to toe in
black
and carrying submachine guns.











One of the men proclaimed,

"Anyone willing to take a bullet for Christ
remain
where you are."













Immediately, the choir fled...













the deacons fled...













and most of the congregation fled....















Out of the 2,000 there only

remained around 20.











The man who had spoken took off his hood...











He then looked at the preacher and
said "Okay
Pastor, I got rid of all the hypocrites... Now
you
may begin your service. Have a nice
day!"







And the two men turned and walked out.











TOO DEEP TO NOT PASS ON...









*Funny how simple it is for people to trash
God ...









and then wonder why the world is in the
condition
it is today....













*Funny how we believe what the newspapers
say...











but question what the Bible says...













*Funny how everyone wants to go to heaven...











provided they do not have to believe, think,
say,
or
do anything the Bible says.





or is it scary?











*Funny how someone can say "I believe in
God"...









but still follow Satan (who, by the way,
also "believes"in God).













*Funny how you can send a thousand 'jokes'
through e-mail and they spread like wildfire...









but when you start sending messages
regarding
the Lord, you think twice about sharing.











*Funny how the lewd, crude, vulgar and
obscene
pass freely through cyberspace...











but the public discussion of Jesus is
suppressed
in the school and work place.











*Funny, isn't it? Funny how someone can be
so
fired up for Christ on Sunday...







but be an invisible Christian the rest of the
week.











Are you laughing?







*Funny how when you go to forward this
message...











you will not send it to many on your address
list
because you're not sure what they believe...









or what they will think of you for sending it to
them.











*Funny how I can be more worried about
what
other people think of me...











... than what God thinks of me.











Are you thinking?











Will you share this with people you care
about?











Or not?













I picked you!

- (Anonymous email)