We are witnesses of Jesus

Binhi sang Pagtuo

April 26, 2010

Dear Centralians and Friends,

Greetings from the campus!

One wonders why the gospel of Jesus reached us, and is still reaching others. This is a great wonder because Jesus lived only until the age of 33. His public ministry lasted for only 3 years, and just concentrated in some certain parts of Israel.

The answer to this mystery is that the Word who became flesh and lived among us did not left without witnesses. In one of the post-resurrection stories, Jesus gathered his disciples and told them, “…you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere…” (Acts 1:8).

Yes, Jesus died but he resurrected and continued to live on the hearts of his disciples and apostles. The gospel reached us because those who came before us acted on their faith.

Those that came before us were Jesus Christ’s flesh here on earth since our Lord cannot be seen nor can be touched anymore. Their bodies were presented as living sacrifices. As Christians we are challenged by the gospel to incarnate Jesus Christ in our lives.

We can do this incarnation or giving flesh to the teachings of Jesus Christ by:

First, having eyes that show compassion to the poor. It has been said that the eyes are the windows of the soul. Jesus is counting on us to be his eyes nowadays.

Second, having a nose that smells the fragrance of a person. We are not to point out just the odor of another person but acknowledge his/her fragrance so that we will see the good in him/her and develop it.

Third, having ears that listen to the cries of those who are oppressed. Listening in this sense is not about being passive but being active. Let us give actions to what we have heard and making “love your neighbor” as the basis of our actions.

Fourth, having a mouth that speaks encouragement to the weary. Let us remember that words can either destroy or build. When we have already spoken, we cannot just simply return the words into our mouth. There will always be consequences. Let us choose our words wisely.

Fifth, having arms that lift up the weak. Let us pull up those who are down along our journey of faith. Let us encouragingly push those who are slowing down. Let our hands be the guide to those who are lost.

Sixth, having a heart that is willing to die for a friend. This is what Christ has done a long time ago and our fore parents in faith have done the same. Let us remember the words “there is no greater love than laying down one’s life for a friend.”

Seventh, having a feet that will go to the lost. How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news to those who are in the dark and cannot see where they are going because they are lost.

Lastly, the Word became flesh and lived among us. He identified himself with the poor, weak, oppressed and weary. But Jesus Christ is not here anymore. The good thing is that he did not left without witnesses. He left us. He died but only to live in our hearts. Let us incarnate him in our lives by being his eyes, nose, ears, mouth, arms, heart and feet.

May God bless us all!

Sincerely,

Pastor Francis Neil G. Jalando-on

Assistant Chaplain

p.s.

Let us pray for the bereaved family of the late Rev. Dr. Greg Tingson. He died last Saturday evening in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental.

Jesus comes to where we are

Binhi sang Pagtuo

April 19, 2010

Dear Centralians and Friends,

Greetings from the campus!

Another interesting story after the resurrection of Jesus was on the third time that he appeared after he was raised from the dead. This is the story of Jesus coming to the Sea of Tiberias in the early morning. The account is in John 21.

We can learn three lessons from this story:

First, Jesus comes to where you are. In this instance, Jesus came to the disciples in their workplace – the sea.

This lesson is very comforting for all of us because it teaches us that Jesus is not someone who is only accessible every Sunday, or in the church, but He comes to us wherever we may be. And He is always there when we needed Him most.

Let us expect Jesus in every aspect of our lives. Sometimes, His presence can be felt in mysterious ways. The other day in Capitol Hills, Quezon City, the pastors of Luzon CBMA chapter planned to hold the fellowship of Luzon, Romblon and Mindoro pastors in Tagaytay this coming September. They invited me to attend their gathering. When I arrived in Iloilo, I received a gift from my first cousin. It was a t-shirt with a print in front that says, “Tagaytay.” Was it coincidence? Maybe. But deep in my heart I believe it was God’s presence confirming His approval of our gathering.

Second, let us be open to new ideas and opportunities. They have learned before that when you follow the commands of Jesus, something good is bound to happen.

The experience that they had when Jesus called them to be fishers of men was similar to this one. The would-be disciples were fishing in the sea on that night but they caught nothing. They argued with the command of Jesus to cast their nets again. But when they did, they caught a lot of fish that they even requested other boats to join them. Now, on this account, although they do not recognize Jesus yet, they followed him when they told them to cast their nets on the right side and they will find some fish.

Sometimes we push our own ideas and neglect the ideas of others. What the disciples did is teaching us not be close-minded nor hard-headed but to allow the workings of the Holy Spirit to work in us, or through the lives of others. God might be speaking to us through other people. When we open our lives to others, something good is in store.

Third, let us relax and enjoy life in the fellowship with others. The account in John 21 tells us that Jesus was beside the sea, with a fire of burning coals with fish on it and some bread. Wow! What a picturesque way of telling us to take a rest, eat with others, throw away our inhibitions, laugh, unload our burdens and just enjoy what God has given us.

We are sometimes so busy that we missed having a quality life. Let us take a break. Jesus is calling us to have some “sinugba nga may sinamakan ukon patis nga may kalamunding, kag nagakinamot sa kilid sang baybay.”

May God bless us all!

Sincerely,

Pastor Francis Neil G. Jalando-on
Assistant Chaplain

Lessons from Doubting Thomas

Binhi sang Pagtuo

April 12, 2010

Dear Centralians and Friends,

Greetings!

There are many stories after the resurrection of Jesus for he stayed for 40 days before his ascension. One of these stories was about Thomas.

Let me share four things that we can learn from the story of Thomas.

First, if we continue to miss to be with the gathered believers of Jesus, then we will continue to miss the blessings of God.

This is what happened to Thomas. John 20:19ff tells us that he was not with the disciples when Jesus appeared to them on Sunday night (the resurrection happened early on that day). He missed the commissioning of Jesus. He was not there when Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you. Receive the Holy Spirit.”

How many times have we missed to be with the fellowship of the community of faith?

Second, we must trust the words of our fellow believers, and we ourselves must be trustworthy also.

Thomas did not trust the testimony of his fellow disciples. He did not believe their story that Jesus is alive and was with them. Thomas declared in front of them that he will not believe their words unless he can prove it by putting his hand on the wounds of Jesus. The 10 disciples must have felt very bad because after Judas betrayed Jesus, another one of their own is in doubt.

Let us be responsible with our words, and let us be held accountable with what we have said. Do we still have Palabra de Honor?

Third, Jesus is waiting patiently for us to believe.

Jesus had all the rights to be angry with Thomas. They were together for many years. He could have said, “Shame on you! We were together for many years yet you do not believe.” But when Jesus appeared to them, he still said, “Peace be with you. Put your finger here and do not be faithless anymore. Believe!”

Let us believe and be true to the pronouncement of Jesus, “Believe are those who believe without seeing me.” Do we still doubt?

Fourth, let us be ready to humble ourselves, admit our mistakes and declare that Jesus is our Lord and our God.

Thomas, when confronted with the reality of the resurrection, was humble enough to exclaim that Jesus is his Lord and God. The proof of this turnaround from doubt to faith is found on his commitment to spread the good news of Jesus to other parts of the world. Church history tells us that Thomas went to India and established a church there in 52 AD. About 20 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus, the gospel takes root in India. Until now the St. Thomas Church in North Paravur, India still stands.

May God bless us all!

Sincerely,

Pastor Francis Neil G. Jalando-on

Assistant Chaplain

Jesus is Risen

Binhi sang Pagtuo

April 5, 2010

Dear Centralians and Friends,

Greetings from Zamboanga del Norte!*

Yesterday, the Christian Church celebrated Easter Sunday in commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus.

In defense of the resurrection of Jesus, former British Chief Justice lord Darling said: “There exists such overwhelming evidence, positive and negative, factual and circumstantial, that no intelligent jury in the world would fail to bring in a verdict that the resurrection story is true.”

The recent book of Lee Strobel “The Case for Christ” and its subsequent documentary film, report that even though there is overwhelming evidence of the resurrection of Jesus, a lot of people are still not convinced that Jesus rose from the dead, and the number of skeptics is climbing up.

Matthew 28:11-15 narrates to us a story that some of the guards of the tomb when to the chief priests and reported to them what happened. Consequently, the chief priests and the elders gathered to discuss the report and devised a plan. They gave money to the soldiers and told them to spread the news that the disciples of Jesus came during the night and stole the body. And this lie was consistently circulated by the religious leaders of that time.

This story gives us some reasons that although the resurrection really happened, the rumors and lies spread by the Jewish leaders are still being spread in our society by modern day Chief Priests, Elders and Soldiers.

We are sometimes like those Chief Priests. They are the kind of people who are only concerned about their position in society. We are embarrassed to let other people know that we are Christians. We think that it will degrade our position in the society if we practice our being a Christian openly. Because of this, we help perpetuate the lie that Jesus did not rise from the dead because the effect of his resurrection cannot be seen in our lives.

We are sometimes like those elders. They are the kind of people who forsake the plan of God and instead devised devious plans to benefit our own self-interests, and we do it by hook or by crook. In the case of the Elders in the story, they resulted to bribery.

We are sometimes like those soldiers who took the bribe. They followed the orders of the Elders without objection. We oftentimes follow orders like blind people even if the orders are dead wrong. We have failed to question what is happening around us.

If you have seen yourself as a modern day Chief Priests, Elders or Soldiers, it is time for us to purge this kind of personalities or attitudes. Let us be like the women who when they received the news from the angel that Jesus is alive, they were filled with joy and hurried to tell the good news.

May God bless us all!

Sincerely,

Pastor Francis Neil G. Jalando-on

Assistant Chaplain

*I’m currently in Mindanao attending the CBMA Western Mindanao Chapter Assembly. I delivered the Biblico-Theological Reflection just this morning, and tomorrow I’ll be preaching in their Closing Celebration.