The Harvest is Abundant

 

“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” Matthew 9:38

Jesus sends each of us out into the harvest with these words, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15 and Matthew 28:19). In Luke 14, we read the story where the master says to his servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.”

I feel that never has there been a time when so many people need to hear the good news, and we have the easy means to spread it. In the apostles’ time they had to walk to far places and speak to crowds without a microphone, without any advance advertisements. They would even be stoned, put in jail or run out of town for doing so. Today, we have the freedom to speak to our office mates, the people we meet, and even place our messages of hope on social media. We can follow Jesus’ mandate to preach the gospel where we are with what we have. We never know whose heart is ready soil to receive the seed we are planting.

A well known evangelist was invited to preach at Washington High School. When he called to say he could not make it but was sending a young man in his stead, the principal asked, “Who are you sending?” 

He answered, “Billy Graham.”

“We don’t know him, we don’t want him. We will just cancel the event.”

“Just try him out.”

The Youth for Christ rally pushed through on May 12, 1945 and after it, the well known evangelist asked the 26-year old Billy Graham, “How did it go?”

“I don’t know. Only one young boy came forward to receive Christ.”

“Did you get his name so you can pray for him?”

“Warren Wiersbe.”

Warren Wiersbe who died in 2019, was a Pastor, Bible teacher, conference speaker and prolific writer of 150 books. His Sunday sermons were broadcast on the “Calvary Hour” radio program. He became the Director of the Back to the Bible Radio Broadcasting Network. 

But we do not have to be an evangelist to plant seeds for the harvest. Stephen Baldwin of the celebrity Baldwin brothers, was evangelized by their Brazilian nanny. When Stephen and his wife Kennya hired Augusta, they noticed that she was always singing about Jesus in Portuguese. Kennya got so curious, she asked why every song was about Jesus. Kennya was taken aback when Augusta burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny?” she asked.

“Quite frankly, I think it’s a little bit funny that you think I’m here to clean your house.”

To Kennya’s amazement, Augusta told her that someone prophesied if she went to live with the Baldwins, Stephen and Kennya would one day come to faith in Jesus Christ and be involved in ministry.

Stephen recounts, “Augusta goes on to tell my wife that before she had accepted the job, she prayed with her pastor and some church members in Brazil. I haven’t told this part of the story a lot. She had a dream and saw me, saw my wife and saw my first daughter Aliya.” And that is how the former bad bad boy Stephen Baldwin became a Christian. 

Let us just plant our seeds where we can, and spread Jesus’ message of love and hope when we can. 

Doubting Thomas

 “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” John 20:25

Thomas, whose Feast Day we celebrate today, goes down in history as “doubting Thomas”. He had a crisis of faith and did not believe even if all his friends, and companions, were excitedly telling him, “We have seen the Lord!” So Jesus appeared especially for him, and Thomas had no option but to believe. “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed,” Jesus said. 

How about us? Do we believe even if we have not seen Jesus? I’ve been listening to Frank Turec debate Christopher Hitchens about if God exists or not and it is really interesting. Of course I am biased and I think Christopher Hitchens just hates the idea of religion. Most of his reasoning points to how religion makes us slaves, and how it is used to manipulate society. In one of his most quoted statements, he claims, “Religion is poison because it asks us to give up our most precious faculty, which is that of reason, and to believe things without evidence. It then asks us to respect this, which it calls faith.”

I think however that our belief in God is reasonable, and it requires more faith NOT to believe in a God who is outside of space, time and matter. For one thing, if we study the Old Testament, we will see that the God of the Bible promises a Messiah who will come in a particular place and who will suffer in order to save us. Who can give several prophecies about the future that come true through many different prophets but God? Also who can conceive that our human body, our earth and universe has no magnificent and caring designer behind its creation?!!!

I believe in a personal God who answers prayer, because He has answered my prayers, guided me concretely in my most important decisions, and continues to sustain and surround me with grace through my trials and challenges. 

To have faith in You, Lord, is to have wings! Dear dear Jesus, thank You for showing Yourself in many different ways throughout the course of my life!

Fresh Wineskins

 “No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.” Matthew 9:16-17

My mom liked the challenge of recycling old clothes. She used to buy from the ukay ukay. Then she would take the used dress apart and make a dress in a new design, but like the verse says, she did not mix old cloth with new. 

Same with putting new wine into old wineskins. In Jesus’ time, wine was put into goat, or ox leather skins. They still use this in Spain and in the East. New wine had to be put into new wine skins, as it would swell with fermentation and burst the wine skins if it was old and stretched already. Like all Jesus' teachings, He meant many things. How about the new wine being the gift of the Holy Spirit to us? If our hearts are like the old wine skins, hard, inflexible, judgmental, the Holy Spirit can't live in us! 

I believe God's Word is always new, ever fresh, eternally alive and exciting. However it does not always appear that way, does it? That is because it is put into OLD WINESKINS! We can't do the same old, same old. I believe that we all need to find fresh new ways of understanding, listening, obeying, teaching, loving. That is the only way we will grow in His Spirit.

Revealed to the Childlike

 "You have hidden these things from the wise...and revealed them to the childlike." Matthew 11:25

"The good news is that God has made provision for our waywardness. He has given us the great gift of repentance.” I took note of this from the meditation booklet, “The Word Among Us”. I don't know why, but I like the word “waywardness". Somehow it does not sound so bad! But the truth of the matter is that sin is sin, whether it is serious or not. Mostly because small sins lead to big sins. Take David’s idleness which led him to murder the husband of the woman he lusted after. Then there's Saul, whose impatience progressed to rebellion against God! 

It is good to look at our ways honestly and see if there are little sins (sometimes we don't even  consider them as sins!) like telling white lies, unkindness, inconsideration, unmindfulness, impatience, lack of generosity, etc., and then repent and try to do better.

I deeply admire Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church. We visited her comfortable home, Les Buissonnets, in Lisieux several years ago during a pilgrimage. Her life became more vivid to me as I stared at her bed where she lay sick of a mysterious illness when she was just 10 years old. My impression of Saint Thérèse was that she was quite spoiled, as she got into temper tantrums frequently and even unreasonableness, but she entered the Carmelite Convent at the age of 15. While there, she confessed that she had a difficult nature and always struggled with even the small things. Through God’s grace, she shared with the Church her “Little Way”, the “the way of spiritual childhood, the way of trust and absolute surrender” and humility before God. She had learned the childlike wisdom to offer to God even her mundane chores like folding napkins, and doing it with great love for Him. Indeed, we may be brought very low when we think of our many sins. But when we repent, God’s compassion can lift us up the same way He did with Saint Thérèse.

Courage, Daughter

 “Courage, daughter!  Your faith has saved you.” Matthew 9:22

Even the holiest of men can't explain why some people get healed and some don't. I've personally wrestled with my thorn in the flesh for several years now and have confessed every Bible verse about healing. I am sure Jesus SEES me, just like he saw the woman who was bleeding.

What I know is this, because I sought the Lord and keep seeking Him, He has answered me.

C.S. Lewis wrote in his book, The Problem of Pain: “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain, it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

Corrie Ten Boom, who has experienced the most horrible of trials in concentration camps during the Holocaust, claimed with conviction, “Whatever in our life is hardest to bear, love can transform into beauty.”

I believe it is God's will to heal us, but meanwhile, if we are in pain or discomfort, if we listen, He will speak to us and teach us about Himself and His ways much more than we could ever learn without the trial!

You are Forgiven

 “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.” Matthew 9:2

Sami Dagher is the founding pastor of the Karantina Alliance Church in Beirut, and the president of the National Evangelical Christian and Missionary Alliance Church in Lebanon. Sami has been planting churches for decades in challenging places to bring people into God’s family. 

He was a “teddy bear” of a man, small but packed with energy. One night at about 11 pm, Sami and his wife were in a car, Sami was driving along a road in Lebanon, when Sami stopped because there was a suitcase lying on the road. His wife dissuaded him from picking it up, but Sami proceeded to get out of his car and loaded it into the trunk. When they reached home, he opened the suitcase and he found it was packed with money. Every square inch was just filled with money. He was able to find a calling card and he called the number on it. 

“Hello? Is this Mr. So and So?” 

“Yes.”

“Did you lose something?”

The man on the other line was quiet for a moment, then, “Did you find it?”

“Yes.”

The man wanted to come over and get it, but Sami said, “Come tomorrow. I have no plans for your suitcase.”

When the man arrived the next morning he was so grateful to Sami, amazed that someone would return the money. He said that he had withdrawn all his money from the bank with plans of leaving the country. As a reward he offered Sami some money. Sami said, “No, no, no, I only accept that amount of cash in the collection plate. Come to my church on Sunday.” The man came with his family, and at the end of the service, they all went to the front to receive Jesus Christ as their Savior. As they asked Jesus to come into their hearts, their tears fell. They knew their sins had been forgiven. 

“You thought you had your treasure,” Sami said, “but the real treasure is Jesus Christ and His Words.” He gave them a Bible. 

There is no treasure apart from You, O God. Whatever we are searching for, freedom, wisdom, power, riches, beauty or forgiveness. You are the source of all good things. 

Change My Life!

 “The entire town came out to meet Jesus, but they begged Him to go away and leave them alone.” Matthew 8:34

In Matthew 8, we encounter a very strange town. After Jesus exorcises a couple of very savage men possessed by several demons, all the townspeople crowded around Jesus and begged Him, entreated, pleaded with Him to go way, and leave them alone. Those men possessed by demons were so fierce and violent that people could not pass where they were. Back then, there was no Waze to help you find  another alternative route. They would just have to backtrack. One would have thought that the town would be happy to have that menace removed from their midst. But no, they preferred the status quo. They preferred to be left in "peace". They didn't want an outsider Force to change the way they lived. They were already comfortable.

Sometimes we can be like that. We are OK with OK. Change is scary. And the change that Jesus can bring into our life is scarier still. It requires a little courage to say, "Yes Lord, stay. Change me. Change my life!"

Food for Our Spirit

 

Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid...” 1 Kings 17:13

How seriously do we take God’s promises? God is the same today as He was during Elijah’s time. The difference today is that we have a whole book of His promises to lean on. In 1 Kings 17, we meet the true prophet Elijah, whom King Ahab called Israel’s trouble maker. Elijah was hiding from the notorious Jezebel, Ahab’s wife, because just as she plotted to kill all the Lord’s prophets, she wished him dead as well. 

Elijah asked a poor widow in Zarephath for some water and bread. The widow informed him she only had enough flour and cooking oil for one more meal for herself and her son. “Then we will die.” 

Elijah said, “Don’t be afraid. First make me a little flat bread and bring it to me. Then prepare something for yourself and your son. For the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’”

The widow believed the words God promised through Elijah and she and her son did not go hungry. Today, Jezebel comes in many forms, but always she comes to destroy God’s people, His words and promises. There is widespread deception and cynicism, and the popularity of atheism and agnosticism. All to suppress the power of faith in God and His Word. If we believe and lay claim to His promises today, just as the widow in Elijah’s time, we will never go hungry in more ways than one. The Words of God are food for our spirit and soul, the part of us that will live forever.

Poor in Spirit

 “Blessed are the poor in spirit…” Matthew 5:3

What does blessed mean?  

Partly it means that God turns His face towards us with divine favor. With all the good in Him. To be poor in spirit, what does that mean? It's not that we have no money or resources, I think it means being aware that we are spiritually bankrupt before the Lord. That we have absolutely nothing that we can offer Him because He is awesome, and mighty and does not need anything from us.

I used to give talks about our business to students. I never failed to mention that God is a partner in our business, and we are successful because of Him. Prayer is always a part of the way we do business.

After one particular talk, I was inordinately pleased with myself and sort of congratulated myself for doing a good job. Immediately, God took me to task and showed me verses from Luke 17. 

In it the master says, “When you have done everything that was assigned to you, you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have simply done our duty.’”

The Beatitudes are not about what we do. If we are a CEO, or a garbage collector, a priest or a toilet cleaner,  that is not what is important to God. What is important is what we are, our character. 

Are we becoming like Jesus every day? Because for all our roles and duties, God can raise up stones to do it all better than we can!

God’s Love

 “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have LIFE within you." John 6:54

This is certainly very strange and a "mysterium fidei"- a mystery of faith. What I know is Jesus wants us to feed on Him. When we eat our meals, the food becomes a part of us and makes us strong. But when we feed on Jesus, WE become a part of Him! A part of His body, a part of His Church. 

God’s Word is creative and if He says, “Whoever eats this bread will live forever,” we better ask, “What can He mean? How do we eat Him if I want to live forever?” 

If we read it in the original Greek, Jesus uses the word “trogain” which means to GNAW, as a lion would eat the meat off the bones of its prey. “Unless you GNAW me, you will not have life within you.” This was very disgusting to the Jews because they were taught from childhood, from the Law and the Prophets, that they should never eat animal flesh with blood. Many followers left His side at this point. Did Jesus tell them, “Come back! I did not mean what you think! I only meant that you eat me symbolically!”? No! He let them go. 

In many ways the Old Testament prefigured the Holy Eucharist and the first Jewish Christians believed in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. They saw the Eucharist as the new Passover, the new manna from heaven and the new Bread of the Presence. Dr. Brant Pitre lectured about Jesus and the Jewish roots of the Eucharist. One of the points he brought out was that the mystery of the Trinity is foreshadowed in the tabernacle of Moses.

The 3 key symbols in the tabernacle, he said, were the Ark of the Covenant (God the Father), the lamp stand or the menorah with tongues of fire (Holy Spirit), and the gold table with the Bread of the Presence (Jesus). In the Jewish Talmud it says that at Passover, the priest would take the table from the holy place of the temple. And in the midst of the people, the priest would lift up the table with the bread and say, "Behold God's love ❤️ for you."

Thank You Lord for the bread that You give, Your flesh which You sacrificed to give us life and love! And thank You for choosing us to be your instruments to spread Your love to others!!!

The Lord Sees

 

“They gave from their surplus wealth, but she gave from her want, all that she had to live on." Mark 12:44

I can imagine this poor widow in heaven now. Imagine, Jesus pointed her out to the disciples as someone to emulate. She put in a meager 2 small copper coins as her offering, while the wealthy poured in substantial amounts. Jesus said, "She contributed more than all the others who donated to the treasury!" 

What kind of calculator does Jesus have if 2 small copper coins is worth more than ALL the other donations? 1 Samuel 16:8 shows us: "For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” 

Others may find us generous but God sees if we have an ulterior motive. After all, we cannot hide anything from Him! 30 year old Chrissy Archibald was one of the people killed in the London Bridge terrorist attack in June 2017. She used to serve in homeless shelters. She is described as kind-hearted and she cared especially about homeless people struggling with addictions. 

Instead of reacting with bitterness and hate, her family decided to spread love and generosity by asking people to remember her by either volunteering or donating to homeless shelters. The hashtags #chrissysentme and #chrissysentyou spread on Twitter.  "Make the world a better place." Many responded with donations and volunteered their time and effort. 

Lord, help us to fight the evil in this world with Your weapons: love, hope, prayers, generosity, truth, and unity. Nothing is impossible with You!

Feed Our Spirit

 “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16

Do we really realize that 100% of us, with no exception are going to die? This body which we take so much care of, is decaying, even as we breathe.

St. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 4:8, "For bodily exercise and discipline is of some value, but Godliness and spiritual training is profitable, has value for all things in every way, for it holds promise for the present but also for the life to come."

I can't help comparing the time we spend for our bodies (bathing, dressing up, applying lotion and make up, eating, taking vitamins and supplements, buying clothes and shoes, exercising, etc.) with the time we spend tending our spirits. Our body is not who we are. When we take care of our body, we are taking care of a temporary thing, a thing that is perishing every second of every day. But when we take care of our spirits, we take care of the eternal.

Jesus, as He was on the cross, called out, "Father, into Your hands, I commit my Spirit." To commit means to entrust for safekeeping. Jesus didn't say, "I commit my body". He knew He would get a brand new one. It was so easy for His Father to recreate His mangled and bloody body, just as He will for us one day.

Do we spend more time taking care of our physical bodies than we do for our true selves, our spirits? Let's take stock of our priorities and remember that if we spend time reading scripture, we are feeding our spirits which will never die.

St. Maximus

 

"If we have died with Him we shall also live with Him. If we persevere we shall also reign with Him." 2 Timothy 2:11-12

This verse reminds me of all the saints who died with Christ, who died as witnesses defending Him. Saints like Maximus the Confessor who is a little known saint. 

St. Maximus left his important post as a court secretary of the Eastern Roman emperor Heraclius I to pursue monastic life. He was far from inconspicuous as a monk however, having been drawn into the political religious controversies of his time. He was arrested three times for believing and teaching that Jesus Christ was the incarnate Son of God, fully human, and fully divine. His tongue was cut off so he might not speak these “heresies” and his right hand was cut off so he may not continue to write. Then he was sent into exile where he soon died. 

Today, it does not cost us much to be Christians. But do we share our faith as much as we can? Can we face Christ as His witness and claim we have died walking with Him?

Stir Into Flame

 “Stir into flame the gift of God bestowed on you when I laid my hands on you." 2 Timothy 1:6

This verse is part of a letter written by Saint Paul to Saint Timothy. I do not know how old Saint Timothy was when he accompanied Saint Paul in his travels but I like to think of him as a young man when he converted to Christianity. Saint Paul baptized and circumcised him.

"Stir into flame the gift of God" can be compared to the Star Wars greeting, "May the Force be with you". Luke Skywalker was told by his mentor, the Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, "The Force will be with you. Always." What was the Force in these popular movies? Obi-Wan explained to Luke that the Force was what gives the Jedi his power. It's an energy field that surrounded them and penetrated them. It held the galaxy together. I'm not an expert on Star Wars but the way I see it, when Luke Skywalker was sensitive to the Force, he was able to fight the Dark Side successfully.

We have the Holy Spirit within us. We should be in training like the young Jedis to sense God's presence, movement and guidance in our every day life. There are many dark forces, enemies that seek to turn us away from God. Even our busy schedule can keep us from praying and connecting with God. With the Jedis, the mightier the foe, the more the Jedi had to close their eyes, keep still and connect to the force before the battle. The same with us! The busier we are, the more we should find time to be still, talk to God and listen.

Looking at this gift God bestowed in another way, imagine having an inheritance, a valuable piece of commercial property in New York, a fabulous gem-studded clock by Faberge, or a magnificent painting by Michelangelo. The only thing is we have absolutely no knowledge of it. We did not know about it because we did not bother to read the will outlining our bequest and what we had to do to attain it. 

The gift of the Holy Spirit, which Paul talks about in his letter to Timothy, is a gift Jesus died to give us. It is an amazing legacy, much more precious than anything money can buy. And it is available for anyone! Young, old, rich, poor, someone with a PhD or with no education at all. It is absolutely crazy not to find out how to have this gift for ourselves, and if we have it, to stir it into flame!

Whose Image is on You?

 

“Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” Mark 12:17

This is one of the most satisfying encounters of Jesus with the Pharisees and Herodians. These people were the trolls of Jesus’ day. They pretended to be righteous and truthful and wise, when all they wanted was to trap Jesus. They asked Him whether it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not. How we all wish Jesus’ answer was different! 

Back then, their taxes were even more crippling than ours. There was not only the income tax, there were crop taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, emergency taxes, and a tax collector could even stop someone carrying a load to pay taxes on that as well. The taxes and the grain were sent to Rome and it was used to support the lavish lifestyle there. No wonder there were riots because of the taxes imposed on the Jews. 

Jesus’ answer utterly amazed them. He was not trapped. On the contrary, His answer still resonates with us today. It is so dismaying and disheartening to see how our taxes are being wasted, stolen even, by people in government with no conscience. The government borrows billions of pesos with almost no account made of how it was spent. Senate inquiries go around in circles while our people go hungry, lack jobs, adequate health care and good education. 

Jesus asked His questioners to show him the Roman coin, the denarius. “Whose image and inscription is this?” On one side, the face of Tiberius Caesar Augustus was inscribed, on the other, the words, Pontifex Maximus or “Highest Priest”. 

“Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God.” Pay Caesar his taxes even if we do not like what he does with it. We are citizens of two kingdoms. One kingdom, in which we are exiled for a little while, will not last. We are also citizens of an eternal Kingdom. 

Whose image is on us? In Genesis, we read that each one of us, is made in the image and likeness of God. His fingerprint is on us, just as a potter’s fingerprint is on his clay pot. You and I, we belong to Him. Kingdoms come and go. Caesars, no matter how much power they seem to have over our lives, decay and become dust. Let us just follow the instruction in Jeremiah 29:7: “Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

The Fruit of Service is Peace

 “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:43-45

I am 69 years old already and I still have not learned this very important lesson. To be a servant, one must have the heart of a servant. And no human being better exemplifies that than Mother Teresa who spent her life giving love to the least of God's people.

David Kessler tells one of the nicest stories about how Mother Teresa helped him with his book, "The Needs of the Dying". When he visited India in 1996, he had the opportunity to meet with her when she was told he worked with Elisabeth Kübler Ross, a pioneer in near death studies, and was himself writing a book. He described her as having "kind brown eyes, intensely wrinkled skin, and the warmest of smiles." She treated him like an old friend, and told him that soon she would be dying as well. He said that she talked about God as if He was her dearest, oldest friend, and that she was so looking forward to being with Him. 

Before he left, Mother Teresa asked for his business card and she gave him hers:

The fruit of silence is prayer,

The fruit of prayer is faith,

The fruit of faith is love,

The fruit of love is service,

The fruit of service is peace.

When he finished his book, he sent it to her, and she wrote the most wonderful praise for the book. When he told a friend that he felt he didn't deserve Mother Teresa's good words, his friend said: "So you don’t feel you deserve it. Then here is what you have to do. Spend every day of your life earning that praise.” And that is what David Kessler tries to do. 

If Mother Teresa was able to provoke this man to a life of service, so should we try to spend every day of our life pleasing our Father. 

Lord, may I live my life such that when I meet You face to face, You shall say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." Teach me to be a servant like You, Lord.

Let Your Love be Intense

 “Let your love for one another be intense...” 1 Peter 4:8

Saint Peter, at the start of this passage, writes, “The end of all things is at hand. Therefore be serious and sober-minded so you will be able to pray. Above all, let Your love for one another be intense, because love covers a multitude of sins.” 

There was one night I had the strangest dream about of all things, the end of the world. There was a giant computer screen in the sky that everybody around the world could see, and a woman’s automaton voice was warning of the coming apocalypse. The screen was filled with swirling masses of gas, and a countdown, and lots of other changing images. The strange thing was almost no one was minding it. We were in an amazing theme park, and even if people could hear the countdown, people were running around trying to find the most exciting ride, the best blockbuster attraction. People were laughing, talking to each other, pulling each other to and fro. 

Isn’t that a picture of what’s happening in the world? In the Bible, there are several warnings about the end of the world. It may not happen to everyone at the same time, but for each and everyone of us, the end of the world will come.

We live our lives as if there is no end in sight. But there is a countdown for each of us as surely as there was a visible one in my dream. No doubt God wants us to enjoy ourselves in this beautiful world He gave us, BUT He reminds us to live bearing in mind what is important. “Be serious and sober-minded so you can pray. Love one another intensely. Be hospitable to one another without complaining. Use your gifts to serve others. In all things, may God be glorified.”

God’s Love

“ For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

There is so much skepticism in the world. It’s cooler to be a skeptic than to feed our faith. Or perhaps we want to be practical, and really hope and faith are not practical. We can’t touch it or see it. We think we can’t apply reason or critical thinking when it comes to Jesus, if He really can give us enough bread, if He really can guide us, if we really can depend on Him. The list goes on. 

My starting point is always, is He who He claims to be? If He is God, then we should take Him and His words seriously. If He is God and He is not flicking His finger to solve poverty and the huge problems of the world, God does not have to explain to us why He allows it all to continue. If He is God, He has His own reasons! 

God’s ways are far above our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. It is so strange that He chose to come as a baby, a weak human being, dependent on His mother. He was born of the lineage of David, and in Bethlehem. All this was foretold by the prophets Micah and Isaiah. In the Old Testament God gave various signs to watch out for so we could recognize the Messiah when He comes. And some of those prophecies were about how the Messiah would be betrayed and put on trial, beaten and mocked. There are about 300 prophecies in the Old Testament unveiled in the New. 

A mathematician said that the chance of one person fulfilling only 8 of those 300 prophecies is 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000. 1 person fulfilling 48 prophecies: 1 chance in 10 to the 157th power. Only God could have divinely orchestrated when He would be born, and the events afterwards. One may wonder: WHY? 

LOVE. God SO loved the world that He GAVE His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him may not perish but HAVE everlasting life. Let us believe in Him, and His Words, so that one day we will be with Him in the fullness of His crazy awesome plan for us!

The Stone the Builders Rejected

 “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone…” Mark 12:10

Just as Jesus was rejected and scorned, many missionaries through the ages have been tortured, mistreated and even murdered. In Africa, usually a hotbed for martyrdom, the White Fathers (The Society of Missionaries of Africa), established a community of stalwart converts who evangelized with a zeal that outmatched their own. They started evangelizing, instructing and leading new believers that the missionaries could not reach. Many of these young Christians lived and taught in the King’s court.

King Mwanga was no ordinary King. He was a pedophile who preyed on the young men who served him as pages and attendants. The Christians tried to protect these young men from the King’s sexual violence. Joseph Mkasa, a 25 year old Catholic, was the chief steward and was brave enough to confront the King for his actions. He was beheaded and burned in 1885, but not before he proclaimed, “A Christian who gives his life for God is not afraid to die." 

The King then ordered the chief page, Charles Lwanga, to take over Mkasa’s duties. Charles indeed took up Mkasa’s unfinished business by having about a hundred cathecumens baptized by the White Fathers. In anger, the King brought his entire court before him, and separated the Christians from the non-Christians, and ordered that the Christians make a 37 mile trek to Namugongo, where they would be executed. The White Fathers witnessed the courage and joy of these young converts as they marched to their deaths. Charles Lwanga was chosen for a private execution and as he was being burnt, said, “It is as if you are pouring water on me. Please repent and become a Christian like me." June 3 marks the Feast day of St. Charles Lwanga and his companion martyrs. 

In spite of the danger, men and women still go out of their comfort zones to evangelize. Usually, they feel God calling them to preach the good news, they are impelled by an urge bigger than themselves, stronger than their fear. How about us? We are also instructed by Jesus to “go out into the world and preach the good news” (Mark 16:15). We need not fear being tortured or mutilated or beheaded. But are we able to obey Jesus even if we will be rejected or ridiculed just like our Saviour?