Fellowship does not constitute unity. Just we happen to be in the same place at the same does not mean are united in heart and mind. Jesus proved this in His discourse against those who call Him “Lord” but do not act according to His will. Even though they did eat with Him in the same table, He will dismiss them for being “workers of iniquity.”

But fellowship is the first step towards unity. when we have reached unity, fellowship our favorite activity, if anything.

People come and go in a fellowship, until they enter into a covenant. Just like a marriage vow, our decision to give our lives to God in faith is a covenant of grace which the Lord Has established for us through His death. And together with it, we also entered into a covenant of brotherhood with our fellow Christians. We become part of the household of God through a local church or ministry, and we become accountable to that body to support, participate, and bear with.

Only through sharing can we actually begin to attain and experience becoming one with our brothers and sisters in Christ. By sharing our material possessions we experience “having all things common.” By sharing spiritual things we experience oneness of mind, heart and soul. Then we can speak the same thing, as Paul exhorted the Corinthian believers in 1 Corinthians 1.10.

True unity in the body will not compromise the 6 important apostolic doctrines expressed in Ephesians 4.1-6.

Unity among believers will not materialize until each of them is truly united with the Lord.

Having said all these, I believe ecumenism is not the Bible’s way of unity. It may a fellowship and a covenant between churches, but without God to back them up.

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Tell-tale signs of the lukewarm attitude may include the following:

1. Emphasis on activities instead of the Word of God. When the church is too busy with so many activities but spend less time in the Word, then you know she has entered a lukewarm state. It’s Word of God burns the heart of the true believer.
2. Focus on material gains rather than spiritual hallmarks. When Christians are too busy with acquiring material things, or preoccupied with earth-bound dreams and ambitions more and beginning to overlook the greater value of spiritual advancement, you know a lukewarm spirit is overtaking them right there.
3. Replicated spiritual experiences. It’s so easy today to create a mood or an atmosphere that mimic godliness. When churches rely on sound, lighting and visual effects to set the mood for worship, it’s because the filling of the Holy Spirit is a rare experience for them.

Today’s church need only do two things in order to escape the Laodicean condition: give more time to biblical and apostolic study and application of the Scriptures, and a complete surrender of lives to the will of God.

We must go back to the Scriptures. We must begin to value the Word of God more than the popular opinion of the masses, or the clamor of this generation. We must completely give our rights to God and let His Spirit and His Word guide our life.

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New seating arrangement. The church was surprised to see a new and more orderly arrangement of the seats. It gave everyone a clearer view of the stage, less clutter, and more space to add seats should we need more (although we are already at full capacity). The mothers have a more comfortable seating at the back, the ushers can move around more easily, and guests can be attended more quickly.

New members of the Body of Christ. We also welcomed four new members of New Life Harvest family. They were the fruits of our labors in Bulacan, Bulacan where a weekly Bible study is conducted in the house of brother Lito and sister Edith.

Great music and wonderful moments of worship. Our praise and worship is always a great time for the church to express their gratefulness and adoration to God, and the worship team is leading us all with their precisely selected songs and music.

God’s words were delivered mightily. In the third part of my sermon on The Overcoming Church, God’s words are reminding us once again that there more obstacles to face before we can sit with Christ on His throne as overcomers with him. Yesterday’s message showed us two more gates of hades that the enemy threw against the true believers in the church ages of Sardis and Philadelphia, namely, the spirit of denomination and the loss or lack of perseverance.

Communion service. In the afternoon service commemmorating the death of the Lord, we just had our most number of attendees so far. Practically everyone stayed to participate in the communion and the presence of God came down upon us mightily. IT was such an invigorating experience!

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This afternoon I and brother Dante were with Pastor Nonoy’s company at Makati’s prestigious hotel to participate in and support the ministering of the Word of God to a group of employees under the supervision of HR Manager, sister Jeng. The opportunity to share the Gospel came about when the company hired the sister and gave her a project that would attend to the spiritual well-being of their people.

Initially, we are given the time to prepare and develop a series of Bible studies that will catch the people’s attention and inspire them to read the Word of God. For this afternoon, Pastor Nonoy talked about “Kinds of Filters” in which he showed how people’s minds are being polluted by the sin the wickedness of the age, and how the Word of God can provide the filter to cleanse and purify our minds from the evils of this world.

Already the employees are exhibiting varied responses. Some are troubled and afraid of what the Bible might show them. Others are excited at the thought of learning new things from God. Only God knows where the future takes us into this new endeavor. But we believe that wherever God brings His words, He is reaching out to the lost children of the Kingdom.

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Whether these popularity is largely due to his relationship to a past president-mother, and a heroic senator-father, is no doubt out of the question. Much of the country is holding to a hope of a bright future that he promised to, and hopefully will, deliver. It is no wonder that his very SONA will be met with thousands of hopeful and demanding citizens on the streets. Thankfully,  their purpose was not to disrupt the fateful but to support and present their pleas to the man who have much to fulfill.

Inaccurate Data

Despite the President declaration before the SONA that he will shock the nation with his address, many were not surprised at his revelations. On the other hand, there were those who said the President provided wrong figures in his speech. Albay Representative Edcel Lagman, in his contra-SONA, countered the president’s exposes, saying that the president was fed wrong or inaccurate information on the the country’s present budget standing:

Aquino was grossly misinformed when he said that what remains of the P1.540-trillion national budget for 2010 is only P100 billion or 6.5 percent. Citing records from the Bureau of the Treasury, Lagman said national government expenditures as of June 30, 2010 amounted to P788, 833, 000, 000. “In other words, 751 billion 767 million pesos or 48.78% of the budget remains unspent,” he said. He said the problem in the President’s accounting must have been caused by a lack of understanding of the difference between “allocation” as covered by a Special Allotment Release Order (SARO), and actual disbursement to pay accrued or matured obligations. “This is also compounded by failing to appreciate the import of the three general items of expenditures on personal services, maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) and capital outlay vis-à-vis release of funds,” the lawmaker said. He further said the lament of President Aquino that the remaining appropriation is only P100 billion is inaccurate and misleading. He said the Aquino administration must have been looking only at the capital outlay where the exact balance as of May 31, 2010 is P105, 155, 678, 000 or 47.18 percent of the total appropriation.

Promises, Promises

Will the new government be the answer to the people clamor for peace and prosperity? The President’s SONA outline some of his plans in the next 6 years of his term:

• Going after tax evaders;
• upgrade of the Philippine’s military, especially the naval arm;
• cutting much of the red tape in the government transactions and procedures;
• providing health insurance to the rest of the Filipinos;
• pushing through of the peace process between government and rebels; among others.

The new government can only do so much. The people and the government leaders must work together to make these visions a reality, however short-sighted.

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• The Adversary will try to influence those in the ministry with worldly wealth and opportunities. All of us must check our motives in going to the ministry. The way of Balaam is very tempting and full of enticing promises.
• The Adversary will attempt to destroy the purity of the church by bringing men and women in the ministry into relationships outside the faith. This is especially prevalent among the younger generation, but older men should be careful too.
• The Adversary will try to bring in the spirit of Jezebel. That’s when women will take charge over the men, or when the church sets aside the authority of the Word for the sake of some popular activity or belief.

With these in mind, all of us in the ministry must be vigilant in the following areas:

• Financial standing. It is easy to complain when we  serve God and find we still cannot make ends meet. But godliness with contentment is great gain, so reminds the apostle Paul.
• Moral purity. Even if we do not intend to, the sensual spirit of this world can meet us virtually anywhere and try linger in our minds. Thus Paul again tells us, he who stands take heed lest he fall.
  • If you’re married, keep your passion in your marriage alive. Go date your wife and enjoy.
  • if you are single, keep you mind pure by focusing on the presence of the Lord in your life.
• Faithful obedience to the Word of God. John said, I must decrease but He must increase. Let’s not go beyond our measure of faith and we will not astray.

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We were planning for a simple celebration: a family dinner at her favorite restaurant. But due to popular request, we decided to host the event and invite everyone close to her to home-made party. It was a happy day for all of us. One of the special guests was her cousin Ofelia whom she hadn’t seen in a long while.

At lunch time we all gathered around the table to ask for God’s blessing over her life. After the prayer, all her grandchildren and nephews and nieces greeted, kissed and embraced her.

Mommy has been living with us since the time when David was our only child. When she retired she devoted all her time to helping us raise the kids, tend to our home, even help in our home business. She is also active in various activities in the ministry.

I wish her nothing less than the strength of Lord for the rest of her life until the gathering of the saints in glory.

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Despite the huge leap in technological advancement and scientific innovations, man is faced with an inescapable consequence that may be too late to reverse or hold back. Here are some of the basic facts taken from different sites:

From FacingTheFuture.org:

• Gases (including water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide) in Earth’s atmosphere trap energy from the sun near Earth’s surface. This is called the “greenhouse effect” because the gases act like a greenhouse by keeping Earth warm. (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
• Approximately 75% of greenhouse gases released as a result of human activities in the past 20 years are from burning fossil fuels (coal, petroleum, natural gas). (Energy Information Administration)
• Carbon dioxide is the most important greenhouse gas released as a result of human activities. It stays in the atmosphere a long time. Current atmospheric levels far exceed the natural range for carbon dioxide over the past 650,000 years. (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)
• Eleven of the twelve years from 1995 to 2006 are among the twelve warmest years of global surface temperatures on record since 1850 (the onset of industrialization). (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)
  
• Sea level is already rising due to oceans warming and glaciers melting, both of which are linked to climate change. This could lead to increased coastal flooding and storm damage. (Union of Concerned Scientists)
• Burning one gallon of gasoline produces approximately 20 pounds of carbon dioxide! (Energy Information Administration)

From Green Our Earth:

• Average temperatures have climbed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.8 degree Celsius) around the world since 1880, much of this in recent decades, according to NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.
• The rate of warming is increasing. The 20th century’s last two decades were the hottest in 400 years and possibly the warmest for several millennia, according to a number of climate studies. And the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that 11 of the past 12 years are among the dozen warmest since 1850.
• Arctic ice is rapidly disappearing, and the region may have its first completely ice-free summer by 2040 or earlier. Polar bears and indigenous cultures are already suffering from the sea-ice loss.
• Coral reefs, which are highly sensitive to small changes in water temperature, suffered the worst bleaching—or die-off in response to stress—ever recorded in 1998, with some areas seeing bleach rates of 70 percent. Experts expect these sorts of events to increase in frequency and intensity in the next 50 years as sea temperatures rise.

From IndiaClimatePortal.org:

• Overwhelming scientific consensus indicates that human activities are the primary reason for recent climate change. Over the last century, the burning of fossil fuels has greatly increased the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping (or greenhouse) gases in the atmosphere.
• Scientists believe that a 2°C rise in global temperatures (and 450 ppm of CO2) by 2100, represents a ‘tipping point’ above which runaway (irreversible) climate change could occur.
• We are already seeing the effects of warming in Arctic ice is melting, massive ice sheets at the poles have collapsed, sea levels have risen, the ocean is warming and becoming increasingly acidic, trees are flowering earlier. Living systems including coral reefs and polar bears are in decline.
• More than 100 countries – many being least developed and vulnerable small island states – representing more than 50% of the United Nations’ membership – have called for global carbon dioxide emissions to be limited to 350 ppm – an associated rise of 1.5 ° C by 2100, to ensure their survival.
• The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), a grouping of 43 of the world’s most vulnerable countries, has called strongly for this 1.5°C stabilization target. These targets are below the 2°C (450 ppm) target promoted by many industrialized countries and some developing countries, which are based on now-outdated science⁴.
• Recent economic studies show that tighter targets (than 1.5 °C) are feasible, requiring investments of less than 2% of GDP by 2100.  Tighter targets would also send a positive carbon price signal to the markets to drive the development of clean energy technologies needed for the transition to low-carbon economies.
• To avoid dangerous climate change, IPCC projections indicate that world emissions must reach their maximum (peak) by 2015, and start reducing soon after, to avoid dangerous climate change.
• Recent publications indicate that the consequences of climate change are already occurring at a faster pace and with greater magnitude than the climate models used by the IPCC predict. Recent observations confirm that sea level rise is in the upper range projected by IPCC models³.
• In South Asia, freshwater availability is predicted to decrease by 2050, and coastal areas will be at risk from increased flooding.

Although we cannot accurately declare what happens to the earth in the not so distant future, the Bible is clear on what God intends to do with mankind, both to the wicked and unbelieving, and to the faithful and obedient to His word. If we are going to use the Scriptures as a weather forecast, not only is it getting hot but it’s gonna get even hotter, in fact fiery, when the Lord comes to judge the wicked of their evil deeds. This is how the Book of Revelation pictures that fateul event:

Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”

And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God,

Saying: “We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, The One who is and who was and who is to come,Because You have taken Your great power and reigned.

The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should be judged, And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great, And should destroy those who destroy the earth.”

(Revelation 11.15-18)

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Here’s what were discovered in a simple and straightforward survey:

• The scientists found that people in the wealth condition – they’d been primed with all those Euros – had significantly lower savoring scores. This suggests that simply looking at money makes us less interested in relishing the minor pleasures of life.
• Subjects who made more money in real life – the scientists asked all subjects for their monthly income – scored significantly lower on the savoring test.
• A subsequent experiment duplicated this effect among Canadian students, who spent less time savoring a chocolate bar after being shown a picture of Canadian dollars.
• One need not actually visit the pyramids of Egypt or spend a week at the legendary Banff spas in Canada for one’s savoring ability to be impaired—simply knowing that these peak experiences are readily available may increase one’s tendency to take the small pleasures of daily life for granted.

In the end the author commends the Amish people’s simple way of life, who most express more happiness in life than even the richest men on the planet.

The Bible has long declared that life does not consist of the material things we possess. In fact, the love of money – or greed – is the root of many evils in our society. It can lead many to go astray from the true faith. It brings many sorrow to people’s lives, rich or poor. That’s the reason people steal, cheat, lie and what else. But godliness with contentment is grain gain, so says the Apostle Paul.

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The believers are composed of about 4 or 5 families, most of them came out of the Trinitarian Pentecostal denomination in the area. Among them are Sister Wilma and her husband. She was set to become a ‘Pastora’ in one of their Bible study outreaches when she met brother Joel and learned of them Message of the hour. They were baptized right after the presentation in Tagkawayan.

Although their decision has brought persecution against their family and friends from their former church, they received it gladly and rejoiced that they were being persecuted because of the truth that they have finally received. And their present situation is doing more good to the work of the Lord than harm, because more souls are coming and embracing the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. We witnessed the baptism of four young people during my visit.

The service was held in newly constructed structure made of coconut lumber, bamboo strips and nipa. It was built on a small piece of land borrowed from a relative of one of the believing families. We were received gladly and were refreshed from a long journey by the warm accommodation of Brother Joel’s family as well as the rest of the saints’.

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