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.

Jesus had seen enough!

Binhi sang Pagtuo

March 29, 2010

Dear Centralians and Friends,

Greetings from Negros!*

Yesterday, Christianity celebrated Palm Sunday. The celebration coincided with the Baccalaureate and Graduation Ceremony of Central Philippine University.

Palm Sunday is celebrated because of the palms laid down by the people in the road during the triumphal entry of Jesus in Jerusalem. But in the midst of the joyful exclamation of the people shouting “Hosanna” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” “Hosanna to the son of David”, Jesus was grieving. Luke 19:41-42 says, “But as they came closer to Jerusalem and Jesus saw the city ahead, he began to weep. “How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace…”

Jesus cried on what is happening in Jerusalem. He cried because he had seen enough. His eyes were full of compassion and care. His tears were tears of longing and yearning for Jerusalem to soften their hearts and open their eyes. Probably, Jesus was not hearing the words of “Hossana” but “crucify him” because days later they turned their backs on him and demanded his death.

The subject of peace is very relevant to us now. There is a lot of election-related violence that are happening in the Philippines nowadays. Jesus is crying because like the people of Jerusalem during his time on earth, people are not willing to listen to his way to peace.

Jesus is telling us to repent from our sins if we want peace. Repentance requires two things: first, admission of sin or guilt done to God and towards people; second, renouncing of that sin or guilt.

What follows after repentance is reconciliation. If we repent our sins, forgiveness and healing will then follow. The mark of our reconciliation is when we forsake our own will, our own self-interest and follow the will of God.

Reconciliation will result to transformation or change in our outlook on life and attitude towards God and people. Reform will happen.

When we complete the cycle of 3 Rs – Repentance, Reconciliation, Reform – the result is peace.

In this Holy Week, let us reflect on how we can contribute in bringing about peace. Let us not put tears in the eyes of Jesus. Let us follow Jesus’ way of peace.

May God bless us all!

Sincerely,

Pastor Francis Neil G. Jalando-on

Assistant Chaplain

*I just delivered a message in the Graduation Rites of South Negros Bible Institute (SONBI) in Himamaylan, Negros Occidental. SONBI is one of the bible schools of the Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches

I am a Promise, I am a Possibility

Binhi sang Pagtuo

March 22, 2010

Dear Centralians and Friends,

Greetings from the campus!

Last March 17, the CPU Kindergarten held its graduation program. As I watched my son Kairos received his diploma, I am overjoyed to note that the theme of the graduation ceremony is “I am a Promise, I am a Possibility.” Before the program ended, all the graduating kinder students shouted the theme with smiles on their faces and twinkling in their eyes that gave the audience an assurance and hope that indeed with the grace of God, our children will some day realize their God-given potential, and be what God intends them to be.

In return to the kinder graduates’ declaration, I asked myself what should I do to help make their statement a reality. What flashed in my mind was a song I learned during my college days. It is a song that continues to challenge me to be involved in what is happening around us. Here’s the song:

PUSONG LIGAW ISIPAN AY NAG-GAGALA
WALA NANG DATI NIYANG TUWA, KAWAWA
NAKALULUNGKOT KUNG SIYA’Y
IYONG PAGMAMASDAN
NGUNIT MARAMING GANITO SA ‘TING LIPUNAN

SISISIHIN ANG ATING PAMAHALAAN
SA GANITONG KALAGAYAN
NGUNIT ANONG GINAGAWA NG SIMBAHAN
TAYO BA’Y TUMUTULONG O TAGA-PUNA NA LANG

BUHAY KRISTIYANO’Y
DI HALLELUYAH LANG
MAGING BAHAGI KA
NG PAGTULONG SA LIPUNAN
MANALANGIN AY TAMA DIN NAMAN
LALO NA’T MAY GAWA
AT DI LANG SA SALITA

GANO’N ANG GINAWA NG ATING PANGINOON
SA MGA NAGDARAHOP SIYA ANG TUGON
SA KANILANG MGA PANGANGAILANGAN
ABOT ANG KANYANG TULONG
SA MAGDAMAG MAGHAPON

PROBLEMA MINSAN SA ‘TI’Y SA MALAYO NAKATINGIN
IBANG BANSA’Y GUSTONG MISYUNIN
HINDI NAMAN MASAMA KUNG ATIN ‘TONG GAGAWIN
NGUNIT SANA NAMAN UNAHIN ANG BANSA NATIN
You can listen to the song at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qRxqW8j-Mg

May God bless us all!

Sincerely,

Pastor Francis Neil G. Jalando-on
Assistant Chaplain

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Chaplain's Office Website: http://www.cpu.edu.ph/chaplain
Audio Sermons of Binhi sang Pagtuo: http://binhi.4shared.com
Blog: http://cpuchaplain.blogspot.com

Pilgrimage for Peace 2010

Binhi sang Pagtuo

March 15, 2010

Dear Centralians and Friends,

Greetings from the campus!

The Convention Baptist Ministers Association (CBMA) has declared that the months of March and April be dedicated in learning the role of the church in shaping society especially as the Philippines is preparing for the May 2010 elections.

Let me share with you the PILGRIMAGE FOR PEACE 2010 Election Primer prepared by the CBMA leadership.* Please feel free to reproduce this and distribute to people.

Election fever is on again. TV ads, banners, flyers, caucuses, speeches, and promises are again robbing us of simple solace even at home. As the campaign period fires on, may our minds will not be carried away by the whims and schemes of those who aspire for power. Let no one blind us of the issues that had been besetting the Philippine society for so long. These issues are unequal sharing of land and resources, poverty, corruption, unemployment, religious indifference, foreign domination, and the like. Most recently, the nation seems to have been plagued with politics of impunity by many of those in power resulting to indiscriminate and extra-judicial killings and disappearances, and warlordism.

Most people are sick and tired of politics, especially election. This country have witnessed that in its most recent history, everything that could be used for cheating had been used for cheating. Many have grown hopeless and fatalistic. But some are not giving up because of some sign spots of hope. Some remain optimistic despite the gruesome state of the country because for them, Philippines is like any growing person. The setbacks are right of passage in the growing process.

The CBMA shares the same view. As we reclaim our nation, we cling on to the following: Hope, Vision, and Struggle – Hope amidst despair; Vision of a beloved community in the era of darkness; and protracted struggle for justice and lasting peace.

The 2010 elections is not only about changing the incumbent and electing to power anyone; this election is about Hope, Vision, and Struggle.

Meanwhile, we wish to equip our people with a critical awareness so each and everyone can cast their votes secretly, and the votes will be canvassed transparently. It is on this ground that we put forward the following:

PRAYER – The Bible says, pray continually. When there seems to be no one to turn to in these perilous times, a Christian can pray. And while one can always pray personally, let us remember that we can also pray as a community of faith. As you pray together, please bring into God’s throne of grace and mercy the issues that affect the life of the world God has created. These issues are maybe spiritual, economic, social, and political; in faith we can confidently say, “I know the Lord will answer all our prayers.”

EDUCATION – A good Christian is one who both believes and seeks to understand. As we have our individual and group Bible studies, let us not be contented only with what the Word of God means; let us proceed by asking what the Word means to the World today. Include in your study list Elections 2010 as the most pressing event. Make a thorough background check of the candidates. Check the daily papers, the internet; listen to the radio, get updated of TV news, and so on. Make use of every mode of communication that provides avenue for learning. Share what you glean with your fellow believers, neighbors, and anyone.

ANALYSE – Don’t get contented with mere data and raw information. Investigate. Be critical. Engage in formal and casual conversations with people. Stage a friendly and worthwhile debate. Agree to disagree. Wrestle with each other’s ideas and beliefs. On top of all, do not forget to respect one’s position. Hence, the future of this country does not only lie on the hands of its leaders, but on the maturity and vigilance of the people as a cohesive body to watch over those who govern them.

COMMIT – One can never know that you know what is right unless you make a decision on something. After scrutinizing the background and track records of the candidates and their parties, and after you have consolidated and articulated the people’s agenda, you have to make a decision. The decision is maybe very personal, but it may also be collective since others might be sharing the same thing. Let no one catch you in a compromise. Decide for someone or for something. It can maybe wrong, but that’s alright. The worse decision once could make is to have no judgment at all. Judge and decide.

ELECT– Suffrage is your basic right. With it, you can be equal with even the most powerful person in the country. That one vote that you have is worth your soul. It should neither be sold nor be given to someone popular, winnable, and had been winning the survey. It matters not that your choice of whom to vote is maybe very unpopular. It is maybe a swim against the water, but that is what it takes to be a live fish; by just going with the flow makes you a dead one. It may not be a winning vote, but a vote of principle; it may not be a timely vote, but at least a vote of hope. Unpopular, yes, but what is popular is not always right and what is right is not always popular. Make your vote an expression of protest against evil. Make your vote a flicker of light for others to see, so they will share the same vision and hopefully join the ongoing struggle for making a better community.

May God bless us all!

Sincerely,

Pastor Francis Neil G. Jalando-on

CBMA President

Assistant Chaplain, CPU

*Thanks to Pastor Elizer Geromiano, Dean of CBMA Institute, for writing the primer.