Far Beyond

I do not know why I just got emotional a few minutes ago, hunched, and sobbing over a song I have only heard once. Hearing, for the first time, the song that so much helped me reclaim the promise the Lord had once released, probably was a major factor. It isn't easy. In fact, I couldn't count the times how much I had been on my knees, and in tears, just to pray that God take away this restlessness this deceitful heart had urged me to swallow. I also couldn't count how many times I had been discouraged to the point of grumbling to God about the pace certain things were going.


I tell myself I'm barely near the defining moment, but sometimes, I just want to see what the ending looks like from here. Talk about being as impatient as a hungry pet cat. Most girls are like that, I believe. I just want to thank the Lord for people like the Ludys who minister to people who go through the same thing I (and most close friends I know) go through. When you battle with your heart, it's not a minor thing.

Far Beyond by Eric and Leslie Ludy

At the end of this post is the video of this song. Hope you listen along to it.

I hear it in a love song or see it on a movie screen

The kind of perfect love story

That I have always dreamed

Would somehow come into my life

And yet it seems so out of reach

It’s all I think about sometimes

Will I ever find a love that’s meant to be?

Maybe these thoughts seem foolish

To a holy God who made the sea and land

But you were the One who created

Love between a woman and a man

And deep inside I hear you say

You see all my hopes and fears

And if I give to You the pen of my life

You’ll write a tale that all heaven can cheer

Far beyond my deepest heart’s desire

Far beyond what I could ever dream

Far beyond my fairy tale imaginations

Is your perfect plan for me

There’s no limit to romance in all its beauty

When the Author of love shapes my destiny

Far beyond the most that I could long for

I will find the dreams you have dreamed for me

I could search forever

I could look for true love everywhere

If all my dreams were answered

They still could not compare

To the beauty of Your ways

And all Your plans for my life

‘cause You’ve been scripting out a story for me

Before the very foundations of time

It's beautiful, really, to just be assured of greater things. Far greater things. Far beyond.

Hey?

I'm terribly sorry for not being able to post my supposed posts the past week. Not having an internet connection even for a while sure has its disadvantages, but as much as it has its downs, life seems pretty much more peaceful without it. But I do promise to make it up. I believe I owe this blog a few posts.



As you can see, I changed my banner again! And you had probably also noticed one more change at the sidebar. Being pretty much an OC on visuals here, I resorted to drawing my own. (Nothing downloadable ever seems to match me.) Of course my dad helped me on the final tweaks like adding color to my letters. He says it's too dull. 

These are the original pictures I had drawn over our British Literature class earlier this morning. I was hoping to use the originals but my dad says I made a lot of line "gaps" on my drawings so keeping it as it is would be a very tedious task. I can't even explain it technically, but I know you get it. It's fine, though. I actually still liked how the changes turned out. It helps to have a dad do the hard stuff for you. :)



I'm extremely looking forward to this Sunday's Thanksgiving celebration. Despite clouded perceptions until today, I am still claiming the Lord's work over His church. For He Who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. If this isn't enough assurance that will keep a thankful heart in us, I'm not sure what else is.



I'd be posting more soon, so I hope you wouldn't get tired of me. Thank you!


I love you with the love of the Lord!

The Unlikely Disciple by Kevin Roose (Book Review)

I went in Booksale praying for a good book to read. As usual, I squatted at the “Religious/Spiritual” section and scanned the spines with hovering fingers. I picked up a few books with catchy titles and put them back on the shelf after realizing the not-so-good content (according to my taste!) or the not-so-friendly price tag.

Then this came out of nowhere (Nah, not really. I found it somewhere in between poorly arranged hardbound books.). This book came to me with a spark, despite my battling over choosing it over the “Hundred Years of Solitude” novel we had discussed in our Novel class more than a year ago. Both novels had reasonable prices but in the end, I went for this book for four reasons:

1. My budget only allowed one book purchase today. (I’m broke!)

2. I still had two unread books that I feel too lazy to read.

3. I wanted a Christian novel this time. I realized I had to get in touch my fiction side, and worldly novels only mess up my thought life.

4. I’m not really a fan of the supposed-classics we’re forced to read in class. As you can tell, being an English major still hasn’t transformed me into a classics-obsessed bookworm. (I still do not get the supposed beauty of some classics – the authors’ ideologies are just too extreme at times, you know. Adultery, murder, and racism are only a few among these, and they’re considered normal!)

Let’s head on to the book though, as I do not want to delve into rants on inappropriate (a.k.a. sinful) themes celebrated in the literary world.

The Unlikely Disciple is Kevin Roose’s debut novel based on his true-to-life accounts as an English major taking a semester off to experience what it is like to study in a Christian University. In this semester, he immerses himself in the “Christian” life and environment most of the Americans seem to be oblivious about.

Honestly, I always had a soft spot for protagonists with the same major. They almost always think the way I do (for the most part anyway). And I identify with them almost immediately. Take Kevin Roose, for example. He’s your average skeptic observer with hundreds of questions hovering at the back of his head, despite his full-time experience in a Christian environment. Perhaps that’s a thing common between us: we question certain things (in my case, certain “rules and traditions” not even encouraged, nor mentioned in the Bible; his, though, varies).

Let’s get one thing straight. I thought this was a Christian novel, after reading its sub-title about a sinner’s semester at America’s holiest school. I was hoping it would be a classic Christian novel, but it turned out it was a novel of somewhere in between – simply of a journalist writing down his experience whilst within Christian territory. After a moment of disappointment however, a realization of its usefulness came tumbling in my head like a blessing rolling down the hill.

What I don’t like about it:

First of all, this is a skeptic’s writing. There would be quite several parts in the novel when the protagonist questions certain Bible teachings that he thinks is either out-dated or irrational. His raised eyebrows on teachings against sexual immorality or homosexuality for example, are only less than a chunk of his skepticism. I have no problem with skeptics, but the teachings he refuses to submit to (despite direct command from the Word), I just feel sad about. It’s thought-provoking, yes, but it makes me sad anyway.

What I like about it:

There are several things I actually like about this book. In a way, I had the privilege to know for myself what happens in an unbeliever’s train of thought. What makes it a good thing? Well, for starters, as Christians, we would not always stay inside our protective bubble. In fact, the lesser we know about how unbelievers logically counter the hope we hold on to, the harder it would be to share to them this victory. I believe allowing ourselves to understand their predicaments and the way they feel about faith, would make us better witnesses.

The Unlikely Disciple also gives us a clear picture of what a Christian community is like. There are pious, holier-than-thou kids, there are those passionately in love with the Lord, and there are several rebels who break laws but still go to Bible Study or church like everybody else. It was honestly as if I were reading a story about me and the other “Christians” that I know of. It is disheartening, really, to agree that the Christian “religion” now has almost become an organization of people who pray the Sinner’s prayer but still live an untransformed (and certainly an un-Christ-like)life (not everybody, but there is a great number). If we are to live continually like this, how do we expect to witness to the world when they couldn’t even see transformation through Christ, right?

It’s an eye-opener, really. It keeps us aware that people do wish to see the filthy side to Christianity. And if they do get to find a soiled spot, then there truly is a problem. After all, there isn’t supposed to be filth in a life in Christ.

Technically speaking, this is quite a light but engaging novel, despite the lack of clear climax (I was waiting for it, but it didn’t appear to me like, Boo!). I’m also impressed that for an English major, Kevin Roose didn’t go all the way with difficult English. It was sort of a journal, after all, and too much fragrance on language could become sickening too.

There were also several moments I had to press the pages to my face and laugh, confirming the good reviews I’ve read at the back of the book’s jacket cover. He is a witty writer with a witty humor, and I like that.

Overall, I’d easily give it 2 stars out of 5. (I could have given it 3 stars had the climax been more defined. I’d love to read more of your works though, Kevin!)

To those would want to read Kevin Roose’s The Unlikely Disciple, I highly encourage you to pray before reading it. I know it sounds weird as we only usually do that before reading the Bible, but it helps a lot, because readers, as I have learned (mostly out of experience), are almost automatically wired to root for a story’s protagonist. What they want become your desires too, and what they think is right you get convinced to believe too. Now, what if their perspectives are not aligned with the Truth? Come to think of it, reading books, in general, requires a great deal of discernment.

Hope you like my review and find it useful.

Praying For Him

I am posting this because I just feel so great tonight, after having remembered two of my most reassuring dreams (Thank You, Lord for the reminding night sky). Aside from that, I also just got home from an insanely awesome day with my friends at Tinago Falls, where I almost fainted from climbing 300+ deadly steps (My body's exercise-deprived, okay?). I usually do not jump from a slimy rock on a mini-cliff, let alone swim in the only-God-knows-how-deep water (because I do not know how to swim), but I did. And it felt liberating, I might say. :) Pictures are still being processed, but hopefully I could borrow a few copies for the blog.

Aaah, there is just too much to be thankful for today, and the positive vibes are just teeming over the brim right now, I have to post this before I forget.

Why am I posting this? Well, the dreams, remember? It's a tiny reminder for myself, and I also would love to share the joy of waiting to my fellow "future" wives of the best men after God's own heart. Yes, you may pray for him despite not knowing him. Isn't that beyond romantic and fitting? C'mon, girls and let's sigh that big sigh to relieve us of too many butterflies in our stomachs from thinking about the beautiful, God-written future. Siiiiiiiigh. <3

Am I Loving Right? (Devotional Friday)

A few days back, a friend said something that made me want to curl in sadness and frustration. After years of looking up to this person as somebody Christlike, I thought all I would be seeing of him was the good side. Okay, maybe I expected too much. He should know better, I thought, holding back my tears, wishing I could get out of the room already to pour everything - tears and groaning - to God.

I reasoned with the Lord, "God, can you just give this guy a good spanking? He doesn't even know I'm hurt because of what he said. Imagine that!"

My sobs had probably seeped through the walls because that night, my younger sister came in the room, and just stared at me before she went back out (probably realizing I was better off alone). It was tough, I tell you. Do you remember the time you were so hungry you dashed to the fridge to take that last slice of cake you've been saving only to find out that it really isn't there anymore? My feelings, exactly.

I asked the Lord why that person didn't even send me a short message of apology. There was only silence and my silent phone, and I was only as hurt as I had been hours before.

The next day, I recalled the events and got hurt again. "Lord!" I cried out in my head. "I can't even stop thinking about it. How should I forgive when he doesn't even know he's supposed to ask for forgiveness?" Again, there was only silence. No lightning, no shaking of the ground to answer my question. There was only silence, and I was left to evaluate how I've been badgering God with such childish complaints over five words a person just told me.

"Lord, I want to love the way you do," I softly started in tears, realizing my mistake of taking a selfish perspective. "But how do I continue to love this person despite the hurt?"

Peace washed over my anxious soul, as the Lord led me to 1 Corinthians 13. It's pretty much a common passage. In fact, this passage is discussed even in English classes, as far as I know. Honestly, I do not even take a second look at this passage, thinking I already possess this kind of love - the kind Paul defined. "Psh. 1 Corinthians 13? I've been singing a song about that since I was a little kid! How could I not know how to love like that?" my mind boasted.

But the Holy Spirit prompted me to read it with careful thought.

"If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

1 Corinthians 13

Like a mantra, I always repeat to myself before to love my "enemies" (or the people who hurt me, anyway). And in reply, I tell myself, "Wow, you're doing a good job, Aine! You're loving them by not seeking revenge!" That is love, isn't it?

Now, reading the passage again, there is a huge chunk of definition I have taken away from love, I realized.

"You do want to love the way I do, right? Then follow what I say about love," the Lord reminded me patiently.

Love. Wow. It's now such a misused term. Either you mistake it for the mushy and tingly feeling you get in romance movies, or you mistake it for physical attraction. That's Eros love - erotic and dependent on physical presence. Sometimes, we also mistake love for that which is conditional. Yeah, sure. I'll love you...as long as you do or don't do this!

Imagine if the Lord's love were anything like that. What a terrible fate that would be for us!

Thankfully, His love is different. God's love is perfect and immovable - that which we should possess (and desire!) as well, as His children.

Follow what I say about love, the soft voice rang in my head as I thought about closing my Bible.

Taking my little pocket journal, I made a little checklist about love. Each time I'm not sure if I'm loving a person right, I'd mark the blanks to keep me on track. Maybe you could try along with me! Below is a mini checklist on love based on 1 Corinthians 13 that you could easily click and save.

Still hurting, and still incapable of forgetting what had happened, I marked my scribbled checklist in complete honesty, evaluating my attitude towards my friend. Guess what. I only had one check mark. The other blanks were marked X. So much for a so-called Christian, huh?

At that moment, I knew for sure the Lord was not pleased with my attitude towards that person (no matter how unfair I thought the situation had been). As Love Himself, He, too, demands we love the world as He has, regardless of what we feel. 

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another."

John 13:34-35

Usually, I would've easily said, "Well, duh! I'm loving already." However, if we REALLY take a closer look at the version of love we possess (like marking a checklist, for example), it might still fall short of True Love.

It's all or nothing, I am reminded every time I'd realize how my love has all the characteristics of True Love except for a few difficult areas. Isn't that what perfect Love is all about? The kind of Love Christ offers to share to everyone?

We are Christ's disciples. And only when we truly love do people get to see us as part of Jesus's team! Love one another. Love. Love with His love. Wow. Just think of what would become if all of us possess a love like this.

We are but works in progress, we know that, and it's one tough path to take, being in a world contaminated by pain, hatred, false philosophies, and pure wickedness. But be assured that in desiring and earnestly seeking what God desires for us, He is faithful to sustain us until the finish line. Let us love the way He tells us to, then, and the love of our Lord would overflow our cups as we allow ourselves to be channels of it.

Light up God's seal in you. Abound in His love, princes and princesses.

"We love because He first loved us."

1 John 4:19

Devotional Friday: True Wisdom and A Mind of Christ

Throughout my years, interacting with both believers and non-believers, I have come to realize that the definition of wisdom varies among certain groups of people. For instance, when I was talking with a few people who were well-experienced with the world, they started labeling me immature - a baby. In fact, they still call me that sometimes. This is primarily because of how I act, decide, and respond to questions in general. The fact that I didn't date, party, or join in conversations mainly consisting dirty inside jokes, made them think I lack experience. And as the world tells us, "experience always brings wisdom."

But is real wisdom truly the output of too much experience of the world?

According to Merriam Webster, wisdom is knowledge that is gained by having many experiences in life.

Okay. Stop right there and hold your horses. Haven't you noticed? This definition of wisdom emphasizes the kind that you earn through experiences in life. How rational, it may seem to others. Earned wisdom. Hmm, why not?

But what does the Bible tell about true wisdom?

Psalm 111:10 tells us that, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom..."

Fear of the Lord isn't being scared of Him like you're scared of clowns or cockroaches. This fear springs from faith in the Lord - when you know that God is Lord over all and Creator of you and the universe. This fear springs from awe and adoration of His wondrous works that you could not afford to displease Him - because He is your King and Master. It's so easy to be deceived, don't you think, that wisdom is as easy as getting work experience for a job you're applying for?

"We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began."

1 Corinthians 2:6-7

It is so important to seek for the kind of wisdom that comes from the Spirit and not from this fleeting world. That's because it gets us closer into God's mind and perspective. We begin to see things in a new light. Seeking the knowledge that comes from the Spirit of God (who searches all things, even the deep things of God) is like seeking what God has in His mind. And only when we know what He has in mind do we get to act the way He wants us to act.

"We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us."

1 Corinthians 2:12

The Lord is not at all stingy when it comes to wisdom. In fact, He freely gives wisdom to those who ask for it. James 1:5 instructs us that, "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to him."

God wants us to understand His heart and mind. Well, of course eternity wouldn't even be enough to know Him entirely, but He still desires that we take steps closer as He does the same, deeper into intimacy.

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him."

Isaiah 40:13

But He does wish it to be known, doesn't He? Paul tells us this in 1 Corinthians 2:10: "but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit." This is the secret wisdom that Paul was talking about - the wisdom that would bring glory and not destruction.

Isn't the fact that God wants us to be drawn closer to His mind worth rejoicing? Isn't it a great privilege?

Wisdom that comes from the world is and would always be futile. Sometimes though, we fail to realize where we get our wisdom from, and from whom.

"'For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.' Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe."

1 Corinthians 1:19-22

Remember that experience does not build up true wisdom, but having Christ's mind and praying for wisdom through the Holy Spirit does.

As it is written:

"'For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?' But we have the mind of Christ."

1 Corinthians 2:16

Test the wisdom that fills you, my dear brothers and sisters. Is it of the Lord? Or of the world, of which He destroys?

New Devotional Series Launch

Hey there!

I have been thinking and praying about this for quite some time now, and I am happy to finally disclose this information about this new series for Muted Rhapsodies. I know what you're probably thinking. This blog doesn't even have that many readers. Still, that doesn't keep me from hosting a devotional series that would be posted once a week. I believe no matter how scarce this blog's visitors are, the Lord would always lead somebody to the posts; all I have to do then, is obey Him and be faithful in the task given to me. Prophet Jeremiah had been faithful to the task given to him by the Lord despite God's warning that although he'd do as God had commanded him, the people would still not believe him. If he could be faithful regardless of success or failure, why couldn't we? Being faithful. What a better way to serve the Lord, for Him and His kingdom to come!


Basically, a devotional post would be posted every Friday. This series would, of course, be separate from all the other posts I'd be uploading which I'd more or less distribute throughout the week. My Friday posts would be solely dedicated to this devotional series. I know, I'm excited myself!

I honestly came short of names so this was what I had decided on naming the series. It isn't that catchy, is it? Haha. But this will certainly do. :)

It's only Tuesday (almost Wednesday, anyway), so that leaves us with around 2 days before the first Devotional Friday. I pray that the Lord use this blog, and prepare me and you readers for more of Him and of His Word. Sunday sermons aren't enough food for the spirit, I tell you. This is why the Lord wants us to seek Him, desire Him, and even pant and faint for Him as a deer pants for water. This, as the Lord uses it, would only be among the several ways of feeding ourselves with God's living word. Never stop. Never tire. For even if we spend several lifetimes studying God's Word, He would still continue to remain a mystery to us - every new thing we'd discover about Him would always overwhelm and humble us into a heart of worship. In awe. In adoration. Isn't that just beyond wonderful?


Join me in these humble weekly posts (which I had earlier called devotional series), friends, and let's experience together the Lord's beautiful mysteries as we go on day after day in this fleeting world.

So, see you this Friday?

Typhoon Yolanda - Scratching Wounds

It has been days since the super typhoon Yolanda tore everything from the parts of Philippine land. Typhoons have been regular in this country, but this time it's different. This time, it was overwhelming enough to kill people of trauma.



"Tacloban, a city of about 220,000 people on Leyte island, bore the full force of the winds and the tsunami-like storm surges. Most of the city is in ruins, a tangled mess of destroyed houses, cars and trees. Malls, garages and shops have all been stripped of food and water by hungry residents." (theepochtimes) Tacloban was declared "ground zero" by AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Eric Wanenchak; everything is completely wiped out.



It was not only Leyte that suffered from Yolanda (Haiyan), of course. There were a lot more islands completely destroyed. And according to the news, death toll was estimated to reach 10,000. How in merely a day could a typhoon create such damage?



Last night, as I was watching the news, trying to understand the situation and holding back tears, a man interviewed yelled over in desperation, "Wala nang natira. (Everything is gone.) This is a dead city! This is a dead city!" Then a father going over the cadavers was featured. He was wearing a tattered black muscle tee, covering his nose and mouth with only a disposable mask. In bloodshot eyes, he searched for his wife and child among the dead bodies scattered, and decaying all over the streets. When he was asked what he was doing among the bodies, he answered shakily that he only wanted to see the remains of his family. I couldn't breathe. Seeing a man cry of terrible loss and pain would probably be among the most painful things to see. But I refused to change channels and insisted on hanging on to the reports.



The United Nations was said to have released $25 million for the victims of the typhoon. Sharon Cuneta, a Filipino actress, in tears announced to donate 5 million pesos. Every TV channel featured packing of relief goods. But hearing from the people of Leyte over the news last night, I learned that not even a small pack of canned goods has made it to their town. I winced as the reports showed the victims looting grocery stores, pharmacies, and rice storehouses in desperation.



"I told him [Pres. Aquino] all systems are down," Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said. "There is no power, no water, nothing. People are desperate. They're looting."



"Dili biya jud ko kriminal. Dili biya jud ko mangawat. Pero wala man ta tay mahimo. Kailangan man ta mabuhi!" (I am not a criminal. I never steal. But what could I do? We have to survive!) A young man appealed in front of the camera. He was only one of the hundreds of men who broke in storehouses just to get their families something to eat. Even the authorities refused to stop them, explaining they knew how hard it was for the victims, starving for three days without help from the rest of the country.



"Maskin isa lang jud ka sako sa bugas, wala jud! Wala pajud ni-abot!" (Not even a sack of rice made it here yet!) another man yelled in frustration.



I know government and non-government agencies are still working on it, but it's just frustrating to know that the most affected people get the help lastly, and in such a slow pace. Medicine is terribly lacking and more injured survivors are getting closer to their finish line. It is just too difficult to handle as of now.




According to SunStar, a mass burial has been planned to take place this Sunday, November 17, even without identifying the masses of dead bodies. Most of the bodies are barely recognizable, but they do not have a lot of time to identify them. They are rotting and would be affecting the survivors' health, thus the decision to bury the dead as soon as possible. I grimaced at the horrific tragedy that had slammed across the nation. In less than a year, all sorts of calamities had struck the whole country - wars, typhoons, earthquakes, flooding, and some more typhoons, flooding, and destruction. Yes, in less than a year. As I am writing this, Typhoon Yolanda is going further away from the Philippines (and into Vietnam), yet another typhoon makes its way inside our territory: Typhoon Zoraidah. It wouldn't be as deadly as the former, but with all the trauma, this might be too much to take for the others.




This should no longer to be taken granted. This is the time we take up our armor and pray fervently, in anguish, to the Lord for the country. For mercy. For deliverance. For comfort. For peace.




I honestly am broke right now but not giving anything to the victims tears my heart. So last night, I told my sister to take out the clothes she would want to donate as I would, and remit it over at school. I've realized that I had always stayed safe inside my bubble, writing and reading, minding my own little set of problems to take care of, with the food I never seem to run out of, but miles away from me, people are suffering, dying out of pains and wounds in body and in spirit.




After reading this, you're probably feeling the same way too. Being only a student, I wrestled with my thoughts, extracting ideas on how to help the people affected by the typhoon. It seemed impossible for me to offer help, other than praying for them, but the Lord reminded me that I was a Timothy - it didn't matter how old I was nor how much I own. As long as my heart was filled with His love, I could always give generously without thinking of how much I could do with my possessions. Yes, you're feeling the same way too, I know! You might have something to share along with the Lord's love, no matter how big or small it is; I invite you to share the Lord's blessings to you to them, my dear brothers and sisters.

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'"

Matthew 25:40

Earlier, I searched for agencies and organizations where I could invite you to send your donations to, and I found this list at The New York Times. May the Holy Spirit lead you to wherever you'd send His love through.

Philippine Red Cross

The Philippine Red Cross is accepting donations and coordinating disaster relief on the ground throughout much of the central Philippines. The organization is posting updates on Facebook and Twitter.

World Food Program

The World Food Program, which provides emergency food aid to families and children, is accepting donations online and through PayPal.

Unicef

The Philippine branch of Unicef, the United Nations Children’s Fund, says that children affected by the typhoon need urgent access to drinkable water, medical supplies, food and shelter. It is accepting donations online as part of an emergency typhoon appeal.

Save the Children

Save the Children is accepting donations online to respond to the needs of children and families. The group said that 10 percent of each donation will be set aside to help prepare for future emergencies.

Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders)

The medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders),explains on its website that it has emergency teams in Cebu (the Philippine city with the nearest fully operational airport to the disaster area) and expects “to have a medical team on the ground tomorrow, Tuesday, in Tacloban, a town devastated when the typhoon first struck the coast.”

Philippine Department of Social Welfare and Development

The Philippine Department of Social Welfare and Development is seeking volunteers and accepting donations to respond to the typhoon’s destruction. Donations are accepted online. It is also posting updates about relief efforts to Twitter.

Gawad Kalinga

Gawad Kalinga, a Philippine nonprofit dedicated to fighting poverty, is accepting monetary donations as well as nonperishable goods such as children’s vitamins, rice, kitchen utensils and blankets. The group is accepting donations via credit card through its “give now” page. It is also posting updates on Facebook and Twitter.

The mGive Foundation Philippines Typhoon Disaster Relief Fund

The United States State Department announced a partnership on Monday with The mGive Foundation Philippines Typhoon Disaster Relief Fund, organized by the mGive Foundation, an American 501c3 public charity that collects donations for victims of the typhoon via mobile phone. Wireless subscribers can text AID to 80108 to give a $10 donation, which will appear on the donor’s wireless bill or be deducted from their prepaid balance.

Finding a Loved One

If you are looking for information about a specific person in an area affected by the typhoon, Google has set up a person finder page, which can also be accessed by mobile device or text message. If you have information about a specific person affected by the typhoon, you can also use the person finder page to share it.

For New Yorkers

As NBC News reports, there are more than three million Filipino-Americans and the community is actively raising money for disaster relief. New Yorkers can attend coming fund-raisers at Purple Yam, the Ditmas Park restaurant run by Romy Dorotan and Amy Besa, the former proprietors of Cendrillon in SoHo.

Underneath All Souls' Day

I never really liked cemeteries. It’s not that I despised them. I simply dislike the sticky feeling of having to visit empty niches, and of smelling rancid body and waste odor – of going to see graves that stir nothing in you, not even mourning.

Let’s just say the first of November, despite the long break, is not my favorite time of the year. And because somebody invented a day to remember the dead, the Filipino people practically stampede over to cemeteries to offer flowers, candles, and food. Not being immunized from traditions such as these, we have to once again travel to the other side of the bay just to place a bunch of flowers on somebody’s grave. It’s not that we believe in praying for the dead. We just want to remember their once existence. That, I also do not get completely. Cemeteries in the Philippines transform into bazaars during this season, which I find pretty ironic for a season that’s supposed to be for the dead. Meters from every cemetery entrance is actually a strip of stalls that sell varieties of food, drinks, inexpensive flowers, and fragile candles; vendors compete with the noise, hollering out their goods to passersby as if they couldn’t sell without telling everyone what was displayed on their tables for the world to see.

“Ma’am, sandwich!”

“’Day, bulak, day!”

“Tubig ka, Ma’am?”

Children come to you and insist that you buy their flimsy candles. “Te, kandila!” they would say simultaneously, elbowing each other, unaware of their runny nose and the soot on their faces.

On our way to Ozamiz, our car slowed down when it passed by a small cemetery. It was not because my dad wanted to pay respect to anyone’s grave. Cemeteries just get too crowded these days, people seem to forget the difference between their road and the cars’. I took the liberty of looking out the window and speculating the stalls people seemed to flock to. Flowers were hastily arranged in either a recycled milk can, or a disposable cup. I was almost convinced they couldn’t sell with the quality of the seven-inch weed-like flowers and ferns, but when I turned my gaze to the people getting in the rusty cemetery gates, most of them were holding the gangly flowers. Maybe I’d venture into this kind of business someday.

The other stalls displayed cotton candy, unripe mango in soy sauce and bagoong, chips, buko juice, and rice cakes – all handled in an unhygienic manner (as if we’re expecting BFAD to make inspections in cemeteries). People didn’t seem to mind though, and I probably wouldn’t mind either if my starvation or my blood pressure wins me over. I withdrew my gaze, reshuffled my playlist, and plugged in my earphones. I knew the cemetery near my grandparents’ house wouldn’t be anything different.

This would probably be the first time we only visited Ozamiz for four hours. It had something to do with our schedule, I believe, or our dogs which we have left at home. I couldn’t tell which.

“Tala, adto na ta sa menteryo,” Mommy said after we lunched on Lola’s special tinolang bisayang manok.  I have just finished washing the dishes when my mom asked my sisters to get two sets of flowers from the store across the road. I laughed when they came back with flowers that resembled the ones I saw on every stall at the cemeteries we had passed by. They were three pathetic-looking, premature white daisies surrounded by splotchy ferns and some kind of grass. Sometimes I wonder if the flowers’ beauty had just been insulted by the way they were being presented. I also didn’t know if the dead would like them if they’d know what kind of flowers they’d be getting.

“Tag-twenty na?” Mommy mouthed her unbelief when my sisters informed her each disposable cup of flowers cost twenty pesos. They could’ve been worth five pesos had it not been the first week of November; we just laughed it off, thinking it doesn’t matter anyway. Still, I could not completely understand why we had to get flowers every time we visit graves. I understand the “remembering” part, but I’m not sure if it’s anywhere near necessary.

I looked over the tiny square that bore my older brother’s name. He was only two months old when God decided it was his time to go. I never really saw him, and his sole (and blurry) two photos only consisted of him wrapped in a piece of blanky. His third photo was of him in a wooden coffin. This is probably the reason why I stare at his name on marble and feel nothing but estranged – unconnected.

After three minutes of staring at the food offered at the neighboring mausoleums, and at families gathered for lunch in the cemetery, the desire to urge my parents to go back home was tugging at me. I readied myself for the words, but my eyes fell on my mom instead, hunched over my older brother’s grave. She had already positioned the flowers, and was now picking pieces of garbage and broken glass strewn over the forgotten niche. My eyes went wide, overwhelmed by the sight of my mother picking up filth with her bare hands, when I barely see her doing dirty chores at home. She’d always been a career woman, spending most of her time on her phone making calls, or her iPad sending emails; her hands had always been clean, soft, and manicured, but this time she was cleaning her own son’s grave, unmindful of bacteria and withstanding the heat.

I wonder what she was thinking.

My eyes didn’t leave her. It was scorching hot and Mommy was just there, staring at the engraved name on the tile of marble. I started crying, feeling sorrowful over everything around me just then. Quickly turning away before anybody could notice, I realized the pain my mom had felt. He was her first-born, and she barely saw him grow. Even though she knows he’s with God right now, she still couldn’t help feeling the pain of loss. If she felt that, despite her belief in ascending to heaven as a victory, how much more would the people who didn’t believe, feel about their loss?

I looked at the plate of cassava offered at the next mausoleum again and the pain flooded, almost tearing my chest in halves. I had been too insensitive and hard to the pains of them who do not know.

The first of November still remains to be my least favorite holiday, but this year’s had apparently been a change of world glasses. My spirit cries for the prayers that fall on deaf ears. For the lopsided candles planted on empty tombs. For the uncared for plates of food offered to spirits. For the lonely families who spend nights on mausoleums. For them. For the lost. And for my unconcern and lack of feeling.

The Marred Jar of Clay

"Would God still forgive me?"

Her big, black, frightened eyes glistened with fresh tears, I tried to hold back my own. Guilt eats her up; fear of judgment creeps at the back of her mind, while I sit, silently praying for the right words.


Maybe you had asked this question yourself. You fall into the trap of sin even after being born again, and wonder in desperation how to get back in track with the Lord. After being in the light for quite some time, you unconsciously consciously take the wrong curb and get yourself into the darker side of town. Yeah, it's fine and pleasurable for a while, but when you realize you're at the wrong side and go back, the struggle with guilt doesn't silence itself.

"Would God still forgive me?"

1 John 1:9 reminds us that, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."



Who says our sin is mightier than our God? Guilt would be there when we sin, yes, but think of it as the pushing reminder that we are still in the flesh and we have to be dependent on the Lord. It is the Holy Spirit's way of telling us, "My child, you're swerving from the light again."


Acknowledge your guilt, but do not let it eat you up. Do not wallow in the sloppy guilt that keeps you from going back to your romance with Christ. Do not settle with concluding statements like, "Well, I really am filthy, the Lord doesn't want anything to do with me now." Know that the enemy injects us with thoughts that remind us of our sins, especially the most repulsive ones. Would you really allow that the joy of your salvation be stolen? Would you allow the enemy to rejoice over his successful plan to pull you from God?




One of the most classic images the Lord has given us to represent how He transforms us is the potter, and the clay under his hands.

"Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in My hand..." Jeremiah 18:6b

Christians are works in progress. Some are almost perfect clay pots, some are barely shaped, but rest assured, we are still on the wheel; only the Lord knows how much transformation we had been through and how near we have come to Christ-likeness.


Does this mean that we are in a steady progress towards our goal? No, of course not. Most of the time we go 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 5, 4, slipping back a few times before going back up, instead of the steady progressing we are made to believe in. For although we are renewed, we still live in the world in our flesh, and most of the time, we get marred along the process of transformation. Perhaps the impurities that had caused the marring were the things we had refused to give up, or our simple acts of disobedience to His commands.

"But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as it seemed best to him." Jeremiah 18:4

Would the Lord get tired because you slipped? No. Do not get discouraged by the stone that appears to ruin your clay. But allow the grace and mercy of God to refashion you; He is more than willing to put you back on His wheel.


So okay, let's say you had given in to your sinful nature and now you want to go back to your fellowship with God. My guilt is eating me; the Lord is hiding His face from me now because of my disobedience!




Remember King David.

He was called a man after God's own heart despite the repulsive sins his hands had insisted on making. He murdered innocent Uriah after committing adultery with Bathsheba, Uriah's wife. He gave in to lust and trusted his own judgment. Why would this kind of man be a man after God's heart?

"Then David said to Nathan, 'I have sinned against the Lord.'" 2 Samuel 12:13

David's confession led to his repentance; in the same way, the Lord only asks that we confess our sins and repent, turning away from the sin a full 180 degrees. This is not about constant asking of forgiveness after repeated commitment of sins. Remember that the Lord does not take pleasure in empty prayers and people who call out to him, "Lord!" yet refuse to follow all that He teaches.

"Of them the proverbs are true: 'A dog returns to its vomit,' and, 'A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.'"

2 Peter 2:22

Yes, there are times that we still sin. I know I do. But this is because flesh would always be prone to sin. This doesn't mean we could not conquer it though. Christ did. And because in Christ we had already died to flesh and are no longer tied to it (Romans 6:11), in Christ we would also emerge victorious over temptations, striving daily to turn our backs to our old, sinful ways. Even though along the process, we slip a few times, it doesn't mean we're stopping and aren't moving forward.



As you move forward, may you also learn to pray the way David had prayed when the guilt of his sin had crept in to him.

"Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover my iniquity. I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the LORD' - and You forgave the guilt of my sin."

Psalm 32:1-5

"Would God still forgive me?"

It's how you respond to sin, brothers and sisters. Either you confess and turn away from the sin like King David had, or you keep it hidden and wallow in it and the guilt along with it as Judas Iscariot had.



"Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hope unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful."

Hebrews 10:19-23

Be confident in the Lord. The more you doubt His ability to forgive your seemingly unforgivable sin, the more you limit His forgiveness through Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross. I pray the Lord move in you, my dear brethren.

True Set-Apartness

Years ago I found myself singing along to my classmate's music blaring through his phone. It was a secular song and I was unmindful of his presence.

"Tig-kanta diay ka'g mga ing-ani, Katherine?" he asked me in genuine curiosity. (You sing these kinds of songs?) I giggled, unsure if I should be embarrassed or not. It was, although secular, not really the kind of song you'd listen to in parties, so I couldn't see why my classmate was baffled with my knowledge of the song.

"Oo uy. Tig-kanta sad ko'g mga ani. Ikaw jud," I replied to him, half-laughing. (Of course I do, silly!)



I remember feeling a tad proud of how I answered him. It was as if I was telling him how Christians are not boring people, as defined by their standards. It was if I was showing to him how we aren't all crazy about restricting our choice of music to hymns. Being surrounded by unbelievers everyday had motivated me then to help them realize that the likes of us are not meant to be feared. That the likes of us aren't always that creepily socially awkward. And that the likes of us could be their friends too. I went along with them, did the things normal teenage girls would've been doing, and gushed over the latest trends. I was almost among them, except that I limited my music choice, never said foul words, and never went to the parties most of them went to. Perhaps, I thought, I'd shine that way. It was pretty easy. I quickly gained friends without offending anybody's beliefs (or unbelief, if you could call it that). My first few years of being a college student swept by like a breeze, and how things had been, had sadly remained the same, too; the leaf that shook when the wind blew was as still as it had been before the wind came. The friends that I claimed to have, were unmoved from the deep pit. Was it possible that the Lord had not been evident in my life if my existence was not enough to make them see God? It's true that college life had been too safe so far. Was I doing it all wrong? Had I, the woman claiming to be a follower of Christ, took Him to fit in my life, and not the other way around?


Now I realize what a horrible mistake my method was.


Imagine so-called Christians in the world today and the only thing you see in them that makes you think, "Hm, he must be a believer," is the fact that he has more Hillsong songs in his iPod than an average person, and that he has occasional posts of verses on his Facebook wall.

When you say that a Christian, a believer, a follower of Christ is set apart, how exactly does he/she need to be separated? How far should one go to be able to fall under set-apartness? Would the inclusion of the existence of Christ be enough?


Galatians 2:20 says, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."


When we asked the Lord Jesus to come into our lives as our Savior AND our Lord, we had already given our lives to Him. When we committed ourselves to be His disciple, we had already surrendered everything in His hands. Why in the world would a so-called Christian bring the name of Christ and still live his/her life according to his/her terms and not God's?

I had been guilty of this too for a very long time. Although I laid down my purity for the Lord to guard, I had still tugged a part of it towards me. It was like telling a person to take my heavy bag even with my hands tightly clutching its seam.


We had called ourselves set-apart, royalty by virtue of the adoption by the King of kings, and yet we strive to be the kind of royalty this world promotes! The kind of princes and princesses the Lord wants is the kind that seeks His face without ceasing, unmindful of the fast-paced, monstrous world. The Lord desires that His princes and princesses wear His armor rather than the luxurious robes the world tries to drape over them. For in this world there is a battle, not a tea party! The Lord wants undivided attention; He demands our gaze fixed on His shining face and glory. God demands selfless submission because He knows real well that only when our faces are focused on Him, the whole of the ugly shadow falls behind.

"For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him." 2 Chronicles 16:9

The Lord does not take pleasure in half-committed believers. He does not smile at the excuses we give each time the Holy Spirit whispers to us His desire for us to be intimate with our relationship. When Jesus came to Mary and Martha's home, he rebuked Martha for fretting over the work to do. The Lord wants our full attention! And only then do we truly understand what it means to be set-apart.

Christianity is not a social organization! We do not meet a fellow believer and discuss the songs of Christian bands. We do not meet a fellow believer and talk about the other Christians that might be our mutual friends. We do not just talk about the fun that had happened during our fellowships. Christianity is a relationship. It is a commitment. It is following Jesus Christ without compromises.


I am not being an extremist. This is only the truth. In fact, this is the moment we should stand up and be radical about our faith. The time of complacency should have been long gone. If we claim to be set-apart, as children of God, then we must act like one. This is what the Lord meant by being the light and the salt of the earth. Do we really think we could act as salt and light with the kind of lifestyle that only involved Christ instead of the lifestyle that is built on Christ himself?

When we are set apart for God, we have been consecrated to Him. We have already been separated to be living sacrifices for His glory. And because we are, the things we once hold on to should be burned in God's refining furnace. We have to give our world up to be able to draw closer to Him. Do not listen to the world when it says it's okay to be a discreet Christian, because your life is meant to shout Jesus! no matter where you stand.


Try to ask yourself this question, brethren. If you were an unbeliever and met yourself at school or at work, would you be able to see the light of Christ in you right away, or would you only find out when you mention you are?



"You show that you a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts." 2 Corinthians 3:3


I URGE YOU. LIVE A SET-APART LIFE BUILT ON CHRIST.

Fragrance Under Heat

There is so much I want to write all at once. Kuya Adyng and I had discussed quite a few matters concerning the church and our own spiritual lives, that ideas are pretty much still jumbled in my head waiting to be written down.

No, I'm not writing the things we had talked about (yet). This post would be about the entirety of the rest of my night, being blessed despite circumstances that could've convinced me otherwise. I slightly surfed through Aimae's most viewed websites on her laptop earlier in the evening, and one link led me to a particular website which was unusually foreign yet familiar. SetApartGirl. It rang beautifully in my ears, identifying with my soul right away. So there I was, spending the rest of the night watching their ministries' videos, listening to Eric (Leslie's husband) Ludy's sermons, and reading their devotionals. The lamp had, once again, been refilled with sweet-smelling oil.


This one devotional especially shot through me like it was specially tailored for me. Thinking about it now, I know this one seems pretty much tailored for you, too. Read on, friends, and I pray the Holy Spirit would continue to lead you as you read this devotional from the site. Be blessed. (Click on the photo below to check out their beautiful page.)

WHEN TRIALS STEEP SWEETNESS

My Mom has always been the picture of feminine grace and elegance. I always thought she looked more like a heroine that stepped out of a Jane Austen novel than a 21st-century woman. She carries herself with the dignity of a proper English dame and has a deep fondness for tea, just as you’d imagine every stately lady should! 

I share many of dear Mom’s passions, but our feelings towards tea are not mutual; I simply do not like this hot beverage so many fawn over. Since I’ve been married, I have not kept tea in the house (except my Raspberry Leaf Pregnancy Tea; which was hard to stomach) so when my Mom came over for a visit recently, she brought some of her favorite tea in a little Ziploc baggie all the way from South Africa.

One of the things I don’t like about tea is the smell that immediately overpowers all others the moment you pour boiling water on it. A little teabag releases its contents and fragrance in the midst of intense heat. Constant whiffs of that signature tea smell at eleven, four, and right before bedtime (my Mom’s “tea times”) every day, have caused me to consider the precious principle hidden in those tea leaves. 

Just as you can immediately tell what the contents of the teabag are when the heat of the water touches it, you can immediately tell what is inside of a person when they are placed under the heat of difficult or trying situations. What comes out of us when the boiling water of life’s trials, difficulties, and challenges fall on our souls? It is easy to showcase peace and patience when things are going our way and we feel like we are walking on sunshine. But the call for us as Christians, is to emit and diffuse the sweet fragrance of the knowledge of Christ, not only when it’s easy, but especially in the moments of pain and difficulty! We ought to be so filled with His Spirit inside, that He is the scent that spills out of us when the heat is turned up!

Spurgeon–not surprisingly–says it well: “Trials teach us what we are; they dig up the soil, and let us see what we are made of.” What a mighty testimony Christianity is when it stands strong, remains calm, endures patiently, and radiates joy in the very flames of difficulty! Meditating on this made me rethink the way I respond to not only the bigger trials in my life, but also the every day challenges we all face. Am I spreading the sweet smell of Christ in and around my home, husband, and my little baby girl, even when I feel tired after a long day of tending to the domestic affairs of the family?

Let us remember the words of James (1:2) “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;” and may the Christ-life within us become all the more visible and fragrant in the midst of every trial. 

- Elsje Zornes