Brothers: Humans and Angels

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1

This verse alone tells us that God created the universe ('uni'=one, 'verse'=sentence) in one sentence. In this one sentence, God created both the spiritual (the heavens) and the physical world (the earth).

The heavens is where the angels dwell. Angels are spiritual beings. They don't have a material body. They were created by God's Word. And through the Word, they existed.

On the other hand, the earth is where humans dwell. It is the physical world. The world itself existed through the Word. Humans, however are special.

Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:7

The LORD Himself went down from heaven, got Himself dirty by forming man from dust and breathing His breath of life into Adam's nostrils.

Now, with this two worlds in place, the Great Novelist, the Greatest Story Teller of All Eternity establishes His setting to write the greatest story ever told. What use would a story teller be if there are no listeners?

Praise be to God for creating us to be His listeners!

Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” Mark 4:9

The story goes this way:

Lucifer was the angel God made to be the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty (Ezk. 28:12). He was in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned him: carnelian, chrysolite and emerald, topaz, onyx and jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl. On the day he was created, settings and mountings were made of gold were prepared for him. (Ezk. 28:13). He was anointed as a guardian cherub and was on holy mount of God walking among the fiery stones (Ezk. 28:14). No angel in heaven can match the glory that was given to him. He was constantly at the presence of God at the pinnacle of the third heaven. He was the loyal "older brother" Jesus was referring to in His allegorical parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32).

Now the Conflict arose when Himself went down to earth to create man, molding him from dust and creating him in His own image (Gen. 1:27, 2:7). Not only that, God also planned to make the dust-borne creatures into sons, made angels worship them and be their servants (Heb. 1:5-7).

Oh how mad Lucifer had become! Jealousy overcame him. He was blameless in his ways from the day he was created till wickedness was found in him (Ezk. 28:15). Pride overcame him. His fall was so fatal that it became the very reason why Apostle Paul told Timothy not to be hasty in laying hands of the believers and anointing recent converts (1 Timothy 5:22, 1 Timothy 3:6).

Because of His jealousy, he planned to separate Adam from God and sin was the only way. So he entered the serpent and deceived Eve (Genesis 3:1-6, Romans 7:7-11). Thinking He had won, God sent His only Son to die for the very creatures he hated. What a resounding defeat!

(Another vivid description of this story is found here: http://rev1911.webs.com/iiisatansfury.htm)

Little did He know that God created humans so that through them, the angels would also become sons of God through Jesus Christ.

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross (Colossians 1:19-20).


God's love is seen in His mercy and forgiveness. Without disobedience, God wouldn't have shown mercy, thus showing His love-- who He really is.

Thus, God made humans to make the angels jealous, thus making them fall into rebellion because of God's "foolishness".

I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? (Romans 11:13-15)

Since God does not tempt anyone (Jas. 1:13), He made the jealous angels do the dirty job so that humans can also be disobedient.

For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all. (Romans 11:32).

So both the heavens and the earth have experienced the love of God. Both became children of God, though the older one is stronger than the younger, by God's call, the older one would serve the younger (Gen. 25:23), as it is, both are still His children. Both came from Him and both shall return to Him.

When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all. 1 Corinthians 15:28

How amazing God's love is. Now the brothers are enjoying their fellowship in a place where God dwells -- Zion.

But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel (Hebrews 12:22-24).


And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. (Revelation 21:3)

How amazing is the wisdom and knowledge and understanding of the Great Novelist!

Jesus and Satan

Probably one of the most widely recognized rivalry all over the world is the battle of the ultimate names that represent good and evil.

Jesus versus Satan. It is the Holy Trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit versus the unholy trinity father of lies (Satan), Anti-Christ (Lucifer), and the False Prophet.

Of course, in this war, the Jesus is the unanimous victor.

2 Thessalonians 2:8
And then the lawless one (the antichrist) will be revealed and the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of His mouth and bring him to an end by His appearing at His coming.

The world's concept of victory is being able to kill the enemy.

Not so with God.

He is the Author of life. He has the right to give it and take it away. So why does the world so belittle the victory that God has won?

Being able to win your enemy to your side is a better victory than killing them. Since God is love, what more fitting victory than such as that?

Satan's fate has already been sealed. As it is written:

And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night the ages of the ages. Revelation 20:10

Horror, isn't it? Hush. Read this article written by my friend first: http://trulygoodnews.blogspot.com/

If you have read and truly understand the article, you'll find out that the lake of burning sulfur was actually for purification. Hell isn't as scary as we thought. Although not everyone would be thrown there, also not everyone would stay there forever. As it is written:

If the work which any person has built on this Foundation any product of his efforts whatever survives this test, he will get his reward.

But if any person's work is burned up under the test, he will suffer the loss of it all, losing his reward, though he himself will be saved, but only as one who has passed through fire. 1 Corinthians 3:14-15

Now it was Jesus who taught us to love our enemies.

But I tell you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you Matthew 5:44

And Apostle Paul wrote about our enemies:

For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood contending only with physical opponents, but against the despotisms, against the powers, against the master spirits who are the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly supernatural sphere. Ephesians 6:12

So therefore our Teacher taught us to love our enemies. Not by conforming to their living but by overcoming evil with good.

Now it really wasn't Judas the Iscariot who betrayed Jesus.

Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?”
Jesus answered, “You have said so.” Matthew 26:25

It's actually Satan.

As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” John 13:27

In Gethsemane, Jesus, who is totally aware that Satan had entered Judas, called him "friend".

Jesus replied, “Do what you came for, friend.” Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. Matthew 26:50

This same Teacher, same Jesus, is the same One who uttered these words:

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:13

This means that Jesus not only died for us, but He also died for His friend, Satan.

...for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. Romans 11:29

How blessed is Satan to be called Jesus' friend. What a gift!

Sounds foolish? As it is, the Scripture is true:

For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. 1 Corinthians 1:25

Victory for the Lord!

You Were There

Intro: C-Dm7-F/A-F#/Bb~G/B-C-C9,C-Am-G7


C Am
I guess you've heard
G7 C
I guess you know
Am
In time I might have told you
G7 C
But I guess I'm too slow
Am
It's overly romantic
G7 C
But I know that it's real
Am
I hope you don't mind
G7 C
If I say what I feel

F G,Gsus4,G
It's like I'm in somebody else's dream
F G,Gsus4,G
This could not be happening to me

C Dm7
But you were there
F/A F#/Bb~G/B C C9,C
And you were everything I'd never seen
Am G7 Dm7 Em7
You woke me up from this long and endless sleep
F6
I was alone
Gsus4 G C-C9,C-Am-G7
I opened my eyes and you were there.


C Am G7 C
Don't be alarmed, no don't be concerned.
Am
I don't want to change things
G7 C
Leave them just as they were.
Am
I mean nothing's really different
G7 C
It's me who feel strange.
Am
I'm always lost for words when
G7
Someone mentions your name.
F G,Gsus4,G
I know that I'll get over this for sure
F G,Gsus4,G
I'm not the type who dreams there could be more.


C Dm7
But you were there
F/A F#/Bb~G/B C C9,C
And you were everything I'd never seen
Am G7 Dm7 Em7
You woke me up from this long and endless sleep
F6
I was alone
Gsus4 G F
I opened my eyes and you were there.


F G C Csus4,C
Can I take your smile home with me,
F G Fm7-Gm7-C-C9,C-Am-G7 hold
or the magic in your hair?

C Am G7 C
The rain has stopped, the storm has passed
Am G7 C
Look at all the colors now the sun's here at last.
Am G7 C
I suppose that you'll be leaving but I want you to know
Am G7
Part of you stays with me even after you go.
F G,Gsus4,G
Like an actor playing someone else's scene
F G,Gsus4,G
This could not be happening to me.

C Dm7
But you were there
F/A F#/Bb~G/B C C9,C
And you were everything I'd never seen
Am G7 Dm7 Em7
You woke me up from this long and endless sleep
F6
I was alone
Gsus4 G Dm7
I opened my eyes and I'm,
Em7 F6
I'm not alone, no, I'm not alone.
Gsus4 G C-C9,C-F6/A-Gsus4,G,C-C9,C
I opened my eyes and you were there.

The Parable of the Rich Man and His Butler (Part 2)

All of the first witnesses to the rich man's son's death were able to go home to the rich man's house and became sons themselves. They have convinced more street children of their freedom. So like the rich man's son before he left, they commissioned some who believe them to tell the others what the rich man and his son had done for them.

As the days passed, many of them started to take the path towards the home of the rich man. The path has the trail of the rich man's son's blood on it. Now the trail was very narrow. That is why only those who had the son's blood can follow the trail.

Now the butler didn't have an claim on the street children anymore for the father had bought them at the price of his son and the son had bought them at the price of his blood.

Despite what happened, the butler still wanted to get even with the rich man. He doesn't want all of the street children to go home to the rich man's house. So he devised a wicked plan.

He ordered his minions to kill the witnesses who testified to the death of the son and the loss of the butler's claim on them. However, the more they killed, even more have found the path and went home. He did everything to distract them. He offered riches to some of them, fame to others, and many other distracting things, but many still chose to take the path and returned home for the blood of the son was upon them.

The butler realized that if he could make them take another way, he could somehow prevent them from going home and end up returning to the place where they used to be slaves thinking that they were already free.

He then stood across the trail near the street children disguised as a woman. Then with characteristic eloquence and charming presence he claimed to be the mother of the rich man's son. Then he offered them an alternate way home if they should believe in him.

Almost all the street children believed in the "mother of the rich man's son", so they followed her and deserted the trail of the son's blood. Those who followed her were actually following the butler's trail back to the same place they were made slaves.

Now there are some whom the son revealed his love. And because of that, they loved the son even more than they used to. They knew who the son was. When they saw the "mother of the rich man's son", they knew it was the butler.

They told those who were deceived by the butler. Some did not believe and killed some of them for not believing and disrespecting the son's mother. Some believed and returned to the son's trail.

When the butler heard that his secret was exposed, he hunted down those who knew about it. He killed some but he just could not get rid of all of them for the rich man had sent some of his loyal servants to protect those who loved his son.

And so the butler declared war against the chosen ones of the rich man's son.

Parable of the Rich Man and His Butler (part 1)

There was once a rich and powerful man. He had a son-- his only son-- whom he loved the most. And his son loved him as much as he was loved by his father.

They went out of the country and took with them street children from a very poor dusty country full of suffering.

The rich man planned to adopt the street children to be his sons and his only son approved of it because he loved them as much.

When their faithful butler who was serving them from the beginning heard of this, he became jealous and he hated his master. He told his fellow servants about what he felt and convinced one third of the master's servants about his ploy.

When their master heard of their plan of rebellion, he called his other servants to fight against the butler and his minions. They defeated the butler and had him thrown outside their country.

The angry butler wanted to hurt his master so he enticed the street children to come with him. They were not aware that the butler was banished from the rich man's presence so they followed the butler ignorantly rebelled against the rich man.

The butler and his minions made slaves out of the street children. They made them suffer. They also blinded them with fun so that they would love what they were doing. Some of them didn't like how the butler treated them. They tried hard to escape but they could not.

The butler called the rich man. He wanted revenge so he asked him for a ransom to save the street children. The rich man offered him his riches but his butler would not accept them. So the butler asked the rich man to give his one and only son in behalf of the street children. He agreed with the butler. His son also willingly submitted himself to his father's will because he loved his father and the street children.

The next day, the father brought his son to the butler. Right there and then, the butler beat up, wounded, lashed, slaughtered, crucified and burned the son in front of the father.

Now some street children saw what happened to the rich man's son. They mourned for him but to their surprise, he lived again. The son told them that he will go ahead to prepare his home for them so that they can follow him. He promised that he will return to totally destroy the butler by crushing his head. So before he left, he commissioned his witnesses to tell the others what he and his father had done for them.

So the street children told the others that they were already freed by the son. Some believed them but some of them loved to be with the butler and did to them the same thing the butler did to the rich man's son. Some, however were able to go home to the father because they believed the witnesses and they became sons of the rich man.

When Providence Rains, It Pours

Who could have imagined that a once humble shelter in Banawa would be as richly blessed as it is now?

From the first day Josephine Quiño set her mind to gain understanding and humbled herself before God, her words were heard. Ships of spiritual blessings arrived, bringing gifts of faithful companions and shepherds. Manna rained and the revelations from God poured on.

Through ups and downs, hunger and satisfaction, prosperity and drought, the humble shelter called Kahayag Mission Group persevered because of the power of God in the love and mercy that is in Jesus Christ.

Now after almost fourteen years of hardcore spiritual battles, manna gathering and thousands of convictions, God has finally blessed KMG with proportionally rich physical blessings.

The Lord provided generous benefactors to aid His beloved flock in its journey. They were the ones that supported the shelter with material things like food and shelter.

Loreto Quiño and his wife Josephine supported the needs of the shelter by their own earnings from paintings and artistic works. The shelter almost crumbled when Mr. Quiño lost his job. Despite that, the Lord God is faithful and He did not allow His servants to fall down.

The Lord touched Al Joe Villahermosa's heart to support the shelter. The Lord blessed him in material things. The shelter was in Banawa back then.

Then the Lord sent Kjell Oliversen, a Norwegian citizen, to fall in love with Marivic Dueñas. They eventually got married and become one in heart to serve the Lord and to support the shelter. Kjell helped the shelter to stay in better houses from Banawa to Bacayo then to a mansion-like house in a place seemingly chosen by God to be at 2476 Reverence Street, Sunshine Village, Capitol site. God also touched the hearts of his Christian brothers in Norway to send help to the shelter. Because of that, the God-loving children of God were able to have their worship service in a comfortable place in Crown Regency Hotel.

The rain did not stop there. A former famous singer and a current captive of love named Jonathan Lewis promised himself in marriage to Mary Ann Villacencio. Along with him is God's dark nimbus cloud of blessings that is waiting to pour on the holy soil of His beloved.

Like an unexpected storm, God sent Oystein Torsas, a philanthropist from Norway. With his God-given generous heart he provided jobs to many. He partnered with KMG to establish an international charity organization providing jobs to poor people. He also helped in giving jobs to faithful volunteers. He also provided a new building for his employees.

For his employees, Oy acquired the Providence Building which is located just a few blocks away from the shelter. The building is a beauty. It's name suits itself. It is really a providence from God.

It was January 1, 2011, Feast of In-gathering, when KMG dedicated the Providence Building to the Lord. After that, throngs of neighbors go to the Providence to have fellowship with God's children and be children themselves-- a feat that no one in KMG has never seen before. And up to now, the rain has not yet stopped.

The prophecies are slowly unfolding before our very eyes.

“Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. [Is. 60:1]

Now the shelter that was once receiving donations and barely living by it is now on a brink of giving abundant two-edged blessings to the world because of the love and faithfulness of the Lord Jesus.

Commitment in Rebuilding the Broken Walls

It's not about the ability;
it's about the availability.

So said my brother in Christ, Jeremiah Kiamco, in a bible study years ago.

Though I wasn't there, the truth in those words still echoes in my mind. It is a truth that most of us tend to overlook. Overlooking the truth of those words seems insignificant back then, but now that the kingdom is in need of rebuilding, doing so could be a fatal mistake.

Eons ago our forefathers, the Israelites, returned from captivity by the will of the Lord as authorized by King Cyrus of Persia. Led by Ezra and Nehemiah, they returned to Jerusalem in Judah whose walls have been broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire. They started the construction with provisions from the king. Because of the hostilities from the neighbors, they worked with their swords at their sides. Though faced with so many discouragements, the snail-paced construction still managed to become a success because the strong hand of the Lord was with them.

Like our forefathers, we too have returned from our captivity of sin as authorized by our Father, the King and Lord Almighty through the atoning sacrifice of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. The scene of our return is tough though. The once glorious early Christian church is now reduced to rubbles of cancerous denominations. Let's face it. Gone are the glorious days of the early church.

It cannot be denied that we are called by God as the Ezra and Nehemiah of our days. We are the re-builders of the broken walls of Christianity. Since God's gift and His call are irrevocable, we can't afford to take this honor and privilege lightly.

We are co-workers with and in Christ Jesus. Therefore as the Bride of the Lamb, we are committed to submit to His will and serve Him and Him alone.

Commitment is no joke. It is a decision that has to be made carefully. When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. [Ecc. 5:4]

No wonder when asked for a commitment, most of my brothers and sisters in Christ would rather not say anything. Of course that includes me. We are not making commitment with anyone else but God. And we know how many times the Israelites renewed their vows before the Lord and yet failed. We are just humans as they were. We all have the tendency to fail our commitment to God.

What wretched children we are! How can the kingdom benefit from failures like us?

Thanks be to our Lord Jesus Christ who by His eternal love for us, signed an everlasting covenant with the Father through His very own blood. It was He who committed Himself for us to the Father. It was He who said “Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, my God.” [Heb. 10:7] It's only Jesus Christ who can do the will of God. He did it alone at the cross.

The reason we are afraid to commit to the Lord's will is because of the selfish desires that are taking over God's throne in our hearts. No one can serve two masters at once. We can't serve both God and our selfish desires.

What can we do then? By ourselves we are nothing. It's not about our ability because even the most able, most skilled and most talented servants still fail to serve God and turned to serving their own selfish desires— and with great care!

It is about our availability to the greatest service which is also the greatest honor and privilege the world has ever known-- serving the Lord. Therefore we should get rid of the selfish desires in our hearts because those who cleanse themselves from the common purposes will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. [2 Tim. 2:21]

Because of this, we have this hope that we can do all things through Christ who is our strength. [Phil. 4:13] No matter how many discouragements, difficulties and mistakes we encounter we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. [Rom. 8:28]

We should be contented with having Christ as our everything, our portion and our great reward, but we should not be contented in seeing God's beloved city in ruins. The Lord said, “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” [Hag. 1:4]

As the song goes: Greater things are yet to come. Greater things are still to be done in this city.

This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Now hear these words, ‘Let your hands be strong so that the temple may be built.’ [Zech. 8:9a]

Our Lord Jesus Christ is not in need of hands to work; He is in need of hearts to live in so that the will of God may be done by Him through His Spirit in our hearts and in our lives.

Mister Saint Unholy Child (The Santo Niño Deception)

The Santo Niño de Cebú ("Holy Child of Cebu") is a Roman Catholic figure of the Child Jesus highly similar to the Infant Jesus of Prague. Like the image's counterpart in Prague, the figure is clothed in expensive textile robes mostly donations from fervent devotees in the Philippines and abroad. The statue is the oldest Catholic relic in the Philippines and permanently housed since 1565 at the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño in Cebu City, Cebu. [Reference: Wikipedia.org]

It seems like all of Cebu is so festive about this Sinulog event celebrated in honor of an image of what they call an Infant Jesus.

While some religious Catholics are faithful in their religious activities, still many others (the huge majority) are too preoccupied with the festive activities like discos, parties, tattoos, booze, rendezvous with friends and the like. They were not even aware of their church's doctrine on this little god; they don't really even care at all.

How did all of these start?

Every Cebuano knows that the image was given by a Spaniard to the first catholic converts in the Philippines. Years later, the Cebuanos revered the image as the Jesus himself. They mixed pagan practices and Catholic practices which resulted to seemingly immortal traditions; the Sinulog dance is an example.

Why would they portray Jesus as an infant? According to some priests, it is mainly because of Jesus' statement in Matthew 18:3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Now about the deception. God clearly commanded in Exodus 20:4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.". What is Santo Niño? Who's image do you think it is? Jesus? Isn't Jesus in heaven? The making of the image is already a sin against a direct command of God (which is actually one of the ten commandments, but Catholics clearly omitted it in their doctrine).

Then God said further, Exodus 20:4 "You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me".

Then the idolaters will say, "It's not to the image that we're bowing but to the one it represents."

God will answer them:

Isaiah 40:18
"With whom, then, will you compare God? To what image will you liken him?"

Who has ever seen God that he may illustrate Him? No word is enough to describe Him. No form is enough to illustrate Him.

Actually, the image of God has already come. Colossians 1:15 "The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation". Only Jesus Christ, the Son of God is worthy to be the image of God.

Who then is the image of the Son? Is it the bloody face of a brutally beaten bearded man in Veronica's towel? The Veronica scene may be seen in some movies portraying the death of Jesus, but it's not actually found in the Bible. Who then can describe the exact appearance of the earthly Jesus if the camera was only invented centuries after His death?

Or didn't they know that,
And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit.2 Corinthians 3:18 (Amp)

So If an adult human image of Jesus is not enough to describe Him, how much less a child? Clearly their understanding on Jesus' statement in Mat. 18:3 is plainly physical. For Jesus entered the kingdom of heaven as a glorified being, mature and not a child anymore.

Then if Santo Niño really is Jesus, the Spaniards who introduced it to our forefathers should have taught love to our forefathers because the nature of Jesus is love (see 1Jn. 4:16). But what happened? The ones who ought to teach love oppressed our forefathers and produced violence instead. Jesus Christ was really right when He said "You will fully recognize them by their fruits. Do people pick grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?" (Matthew 7:16).

What then are the fruits of the Spaniards' oppression? Did they produce the fruits of the Holy Spirit such as love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control? (Gal. 5:22-23) Surely there is no love in killing even if it is for the country, nor joy in revolution, nor peace in war, nor forbearance in rage, and still many more to mention.

The real Jesus is not made up of wood, stones, metal or cloth. Rather He is made up of love. We became God's children because of His love and sacrifice for us.

Therefore, "Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man."Acts 17:29

Rather, this then is what we have to do: "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God." 1 John 4:7

May God open your eyes to the truth, in the Name of Jesus Christ!

A Man With No Emotions

I have hated pain ever since the beginning of my life. Since the time of my birth even up to the time when I gained understanding.

Like I wasn't alone! All people hate pain. Nobody wants to get hurt. It's man's nature to avoid pain. They wouldn't have studied medicine, researched for ways to improve health, get into diets and not to mention discover morphine and other pain relievers.

Well medicines are somehow effective in dealing with physical pain; however, there is no such medicine solid enough to cure it.

Well maybe there are some.

Emotional pain is more like a mental pain. Some people go to psychiatrists, some go for counseling, some just drown their hearts in liquor just to forget the pain, and still some go for the hard way by taking drugs.

Why am I writing this? It's because of a mistake I made-- something that almost cost my life.

My life has been lashed with storms of emotional pains, though it's not even comparable to some who has made pain there best friend for always being there. I've been rejected (Oh yeah, almost everyday), despised, ignored, slandered and many things, though like i said, it's not as harsh as what others have experienced.

Then came the disappointments. Even in my service to God, I still felt the emotional pains I used to feel when I was still in sin. The demons kept on reminding me of those things and it pisses me off. They disrupt my focus and even caught me in their traps. And because of that, there arose a fear inside me--a fear of giving and being rejected.

Time came that I had enough of those things. I prayed to God to give me wisdom to battle those demons. I prayed that my emotions would get swallowed up by reason and sound knowledge.

And God, as always, never failed to answer my prayers. He revealed a way. It was in my psychology class that God showed me a part of my brain that is responsible with emotional memory and a part that is responsible with rational thinking, logic and reasoning.

After that, I did something with my very own brain. I used my authority and tweaked it as though I was rearranging the registry of my computer's installed programs and saved files. I upgraded reason, logic and reasoning by taking some memory from emotional disk. And viola-- a new Tips, a close-to-an-android one.

For a brief period of time, I enjoyed freedom from emotional pain. Woooh! It feels good to be invulnerable, I thought to myself. Nobody can bring me down this time. State your case and I'll refute thee with mine wisdom and understanding. Bwahahahaha.

I even had an excuse: I KNOW what love is. I can contend with other persons who doesn't know love as much as I do. I can even contend with myself when I'm being tempted to have passion on someone. And yes, falling in love again was not in my choices nor my capabilities nor my tendencies anymore. I can speak about love. I can teach people about it. I can write a hundred books about it.

But ironically, I just can't. I haven't written any poems in weeks. I found it hard to write. I had the ideas but I just can't express them. I found it hard even to mend a broken heart like I used to do.

People around me were suffering. I used to be able to help them even when I was still in pain myself. I used to just listen to them. I couldn't speak enough because I still lack the words of advice. I failed to realize that the way my friends found comfort in me is through me and my listening ear, my warm smile, my brotherly tap, and of course my secret prayer for them.

It's as though my reservoir of love has gone dry. My knowledge puffed me up and I was breaking down with the lack of love. The cold was slowly embracing me that time.

I know love alright, but what good is it? I couldn't feel it's presence in me. Well I couldn't feel anything at all. I just KNOW things. But did I?

Good thing God loves me. He made me realize I forgot one thing about love:It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. And coincidentally, it's found at the seventh verse in the thirteenth chapter of Paul's first letter to the Corinthians.

Love always perseveres. If there is no pain, discouragement and obstacles, there would be no use for love to persevere.

Love is laying your life for others. Even Christ Himself suffered pain for laying His life for us, but He persevered. There is always pain in a living sacrifice.

Surely enough, it's no use to know what love is if it doesn't live in your heart. It's no use to speak about it if you don't listen to it.

I know love alright and if it is not in me, I'm as good as dead.

If My Heart Has Grown Cold...

...there Your love will unfold.

Lately I've been banging my head with a lot of technicalities. I have been doing some research work for the company I'm working for.

My job is not a joke. I had to write letters to big time politicians. Then what am I to them (in a worldly matter)? I'm just an obscure 18-year old barely out-of-school youth. How could I convince them? I don't know. That's why I have to study a lot of their profiles so that I can appropriate my letter to their cause.

However, the downside is that I started to spend my time lesser in more fulfilling tasks like increasing my knowledge in the Word of God, teaching others, nurturing souls, preaching the gospel and ministering of deliverance.

Yeah I consider my job as similar to Paul's tent-making in Thessalonica. It gives my a sense of dignity. Despite that, I have to budget my time--big-time. Oh man! I still have to go to school. After classes I log in for duty. I barely have time to sleep. I also have to help in my family's business in selling cooked food.

I cannot afford to have idle time, though sometimes I take time to be alone-- just me (and of course my best friend, the Holy Spirit) to think of worthwhile things and deep secrets. Thanks to that. I'm still alive.

I'm still alive, though my once compassionate heart has grown cold. Still God never failed to show me His grace everyday. He allowed me to make mistakes and showed me grace by making me stand up again.

Oh thank God for placing a need in my heart-- the need for grace.

Reckless Me

Proverbs 12:18
The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Though the Spirit of the Lord was not reckless in saying that, it pierced my heart like a sword.

I wonder how many people I wounded with my reckless words. I wonder if most of them are still bleeding up to now. I wonder if they would still be my friends.

Yeah the truth hurts. No wonder the Word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Heb. 4:12)

It hurts you enough to heal you.

Reckless words are those spoken without the Spirit of God. Those are the ones spoken through a reckless spirit. They bring trouble.

That's one weakness I still have to pray to God to teach me to overcome.

Search Engine Optimization

What is a search engine?
A web search engine is designed to search for information on the World Wide Web and FTP servers. The search results are generally presented in a list of results and are often called hits. The information may consist of web pages, images, information and other types of files. Some search engines also mine data available in databases or open directories. Unlike Web directories, which are maintained by human editors, search engines operate algorithmically or are a mixture of algorithmic and human input.
(source: wikipedia.org)

What is search engine optimization?
It is the process of improving the visibility of a web site or a web page in search engines via the "natural" or un-paid ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results. Other forms of search engine marketing (SEM) target paid listings. In general, the earlier (or higher on the page), and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine. SEO may target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, video search and industry-specific vertical search engines. This gives a web site web presence.

Methods of search engine optimization
The most basic is getting indexed. We don't have to do anything because the webcrawlers from google or yahoo will just find us, but this will not ensure us of a high rank in the search engine. Some things must be done to improve our page rank.
1.editing its content and HTML and associated coding
- this both increases its relevance to specific keywords and removes barriers to the indexing activities of search engines.
2.promoting a site
- this increases the number of backlinks, or inbound links. the more you click the link towards the site you are promoting, the more 'vote' it will have for the ranking in the search engine, especially google.
3.google webmaster
still working on it...I don't know how this works
4.cross linking
-the same concept in promoting a site, but this involves more connections to other websites.
a) Reciprocal link
a mutual link between two objects, commonly between two websites to ensure mutual traffic. For example, Alice and Bob have websites. If Bob's website links to Alice's website, and Alice's website links to Bob's website, the websites are reciprocally linked. The more link exchanges we have in two or more sites, the more we will have higher rankings in search engines.
b) Resource linking
A resource link is a text link in the results pane that takes user to informational material such as Help, Web content, etc. If we put more resource links that lead to other relevant websites, then we can increase our search engine ranking. Maybe this is not an advisable idea because google may have done some measures to prevent spamming. Thus, we cannot significantly increase our rating.
c) Forum signature linking
If we enter into forums relative to ending cyber crime and use the link to our site as our signature in the forum, we can build up more backlinks unless there is no 'nofollow' attribute in the forum which instructs search engines not to increase the rating of the site.
d)Blog comments
Leaving a comment on a blog can result in a relevant do-follow link to the individual's website. Most of the time, however, leaving a comment on a blog turns into a no-follow link, which is almost useless in the eyes of search engines, such as Google and Yahoo! Search. On the other hand, most blog comments get clicked on by the readers of the blog if the comment is well-thought-out and pertains to the discussion of the other commenters and the post on the blog.
5.link farming
This is usually done by a group of web sites that all hyperlink to every other site in the group. It is like a business conglomerate in the internet on which several websites connect to one another. The more connections, the higher the search engine rank. This may not be applicable to our site in its early stages because we still don't have enough links to other websites which links also to another, but in the later time, maybe we can grow more.
6.obtain a backlink from the web directory
A web directory specializes in linking to other web sites and categorizing those links. With a backlink to a web directory, we can have a link to other web sites and many opportunities to obtain connections. With more connections comes a higher page rank.

Top 10 search engine optimization techniques
The 10 Great SEO tips for your site
#1 Content
As cliché as it sounds this is the number one for any search marketing strategy, it is impossibly important to ensure that you have content worth viewing. Without this one simply step to ensure that there is a reason for someone to be on your site, everything else is useless. There are a lot of great sites to find inspiration for writing great content that works.
I suggest we copyread the contents of our website for grammar errors to make it look professional. The idea of the website's aim is there, but cyber crime is a very general term. It is good to specify some of those cyber crimes that we are targeting so that people who are only concerned in fighting a specific cyber crime can also be attracted. It is because not all people that what is disturbing them is a cyber crime. For example, if they are annoyed by spam mails, they won't necessarily key in 'cyber crime' but 'spam mails'.
#2 Incoming Links
A link is a link is a link, but without the simplest form you aren’t going to do well in search engines. The more links you have the more often you are going to be crawled. It is also important to make sure that you have the proper anchor text for your incoming links. The easiest way to gain quality links from other sites is to link to sites to let them know your site is there and hope for a reciprocal link. It is also important to make sure that you have content that is worth linking to on your site.
It's like hitting two birds in one stone. If we target specific cyber crimes, we can create many links in our site. This creates many pathways for the crawler to travel through. If we post links to other sites that talk about the specific cyber crimes and partner with them to post also a link to our site, we can increase our visibility to crawlers.
#3 Web site title
Making sure that you have the right web site titles for your pages is extremely important. The keywords you place in your title are important in order to ensure that your topic is understood by Google. One of the primary factors for ranking is if the title is on-topic with the search results. Not only is it important for robots to index and understand the topic of the page either. It is important for click-through rates in the search results. Pay attention to what you click on when you are searching in Google, I know that I don’t always click the first results. Using great titles and topics on your site will bring you more traffic than a number one listing. Most of the time it is within the first page, but I skim through the titles to see which looks to be more on-topic for my search query.
In this case, our HTML title tag is 'End Cyber Crime'. This is perfectly fit for our home page. If our page is talking about a specific cyber crime, we should change the HTML title tag of that page which deals a specific cyber crime. This can attract the crawler to direct the search to that specific page.
#4 Heading tags
When you are laying out your site’s content you have to be sure that you are creating the content flow in such a way that the heading tags are based on prominence. The most prominent of course being the h1 tag, which says “this is what this block of copy is about.” Making sure you understand heading tag structure is very important. You only want to have one (or two) h1 tags per a page. It is important to not just throw anything into an h1 tag and hope you rank for it.
I suggest we change our h1 tag from 'Welcome to EndCyberCrime.com' to a more newspaper headline-like header which is direct to the point and is talking about the content of our site. Our current h1 tag looks more like a greeting rather than a direct title that talks about our site. We should ask ourselves, 'What would a cyber crime victim ask if he wants to end cyber crime?'.
#5 Internal Linking
Making sure that your internal linking helps robots (and visitors!) to find the content on your site is huge. Using relevant copy throughout your site will tell the robots (and visitors!) more effectively what to expect on the corresponding page. You do want to make sure that on pages you don’t want to rank in Google that you add a nofollow tag to ensure that the ranking flow of your site corresponds with your site’s topic and interests. No one is going to be searching Google to find out what your terms of service or privacy policy are.
The same though as number one and two. Take for example Facebook. It is a very interactive website that accommodates many users around the world. With many users comes many internal links. With many internal links comes many external links. This is a very popular trend nowadays. If we enable users or those willing to help our cause to create profiles, forums, friend connections and the like, we can increase the number of our internal and external links. But I'm still not sure about this idea because hackers might infiltrate our site and spy on our plans in our forums.
#6 Keyword Density
Ensuring that you have the right keyword density for your page and sites topic is paramount. You don’t want to go overboard and use the keyword every 5th word but making sure it “comes up” often is going to help you rank better in search engines. The unspoken rule is no more then 5% of the total copy per a page. Anymore then this and it can start to look a little spammy. Granted, you aren’t shooting for 5% every time. It is really all about context and relevance— just make sure it is good, quality copy.
This means we use the words that are relevant to our site more often in our web content. If we overuse the keywords, we might be marked as an artificial site or spam site. But we don't have to worry much about this if we have a forum within our site, talking about troubleshooting and sharing ideas to fight cyber crime. The members themselves type the keywords in their posts.
#7 Sitemaps
It is always a good idea to give search engines a helping hand to find the content that is on your site. Making sure that you create and maintain a sitemap for all of the pages on your site will help the search robots to find all of the pages in your site and index them. Google, Yahoo, MSN and Ask all support sitemaps and most of them offer a great way to ensure that it is finding your sitemap. Most of the time you can simply name it sitemap.xml and the search robot will find the file effectively.
We have this. We just have to update our site maps with the changes in our site, like new pages.
#8 Meta Tags
Everyone will tell you that meta tags don’t matter, they do. The biggest thing they matter for is click-through though. There will be a lot of times when Google will use your meta description as the copy that gets pulled with your search listing. This can help to attract the visitor to visit your web site if it is related to their search query. Definitely a much overlooked (as of late) ranking factor. Getting indexed by search engines and ranking well is just the first step. The next, and biggest, step is getting that visitor that searched for your keywords to want to click on your search listing.
#9 URL Structure
Ensuring that your URL structure compliments the content that is on the corresponding page is pretty important. There are various methods to make this work, such as modrewrite on apache.
#10 Domain
It can help to have keywords you are interested in ranking for within your domain, but only as much as the title, heading and content matters. One very important factor that is coming to light is that domain age is important. The older the site or domain, the better it is not spam and can do well in search results. The domain age definitely isn’t a make or break factor but it does help quite a bit.

links:
http://www.linuxhomenetworking.com/wiki/index.php/Quick_HOWTO_:_Ch18_:_Configuring_DNS
https://www.google.com/webmasters/verification/verification?hl=en&siteUrl=http://www.tipstheless.blogspot.com/&continue=https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/dashboard?hl%3Den%26siteUrl%3Dhttp://www.tipstheless.blogspot.com/%26sig%3DALjLGbPkGQefyyLcXO0wvrzAdkQsMt9zZA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Webmaster_Tools
Top ten SEO techniques:
http://dustinbrewer.com/top-10-search-engine-optimization-techniques/
Contact professional
http://www.yournew.com/contact.cfm
Header Tags
http://www.yournew.com/h1_tags_seo.cfm

My Graceful Exit

I'm not calling it suicide. I just know it would come.

Death is inevitable. It will surely come. But I know better than I used to. I know will not really die. I will just sleep--or so i thought.

Death is waking up from this perishable space-matter-time world. It is a transition from a wretched world to a better one-- far better one.

I know my time would come. But what can I do? I can't escape it. Maybe I just have to make the most out of it.

It's no use prolonging my stay as the world is so busy doing. A single meaningful death is better than million meaningless lives. It's better to live a short life full of love than to live a long one without it.

I'm thinking of a graceful exit... one that will bring more people to realisation of the secret things of God. Perhaps martyrdom. Perhaps a peaceful one. Whatever it will be, it's significance will be in the hands of God.

A Beggar

Many times I was approached by beggars of different ages, gender,and looks. But I don't give them anything, at least, not all the time. Many times I asked myself what to do when faced in such situations.

What would I give? How much? Should I run away? What would he do with the money I give him? Is he a part of a syndicate? Why don't he look for a job? Why should this man so dependent on people? Doesn't he have what it takes to feed himself?

Sometimes I find myself looking away, or pretending not to look at the poor person--or pretending to be one-- so I could spare the little pennies I have. Sometimes I give what I could spare just to ease up my conscience. Rarely I treat the beggar with a little food, perhaps a piece of bread and a drink--just to make sure the money would somehow go to somewhere worthwhile. And once, ONLY ONCE, I did what I thought was impossible for me to do: to share something I hold dear, the Word of God.

I wonder why there are still people like them even in the super-power countries. Good or bad government, there are still beggars. Even Jesus Himself said,"You will always have the poor among you..."

Maybe the problem is not really eradicating poverty. Only God Himself can make one man rich and another poor. Some uneducated people go rich. some college graduates end up in slums.

Maybe the problem is the absence of Christ in the hearts of men.. "...but you will not always have me." [Jn. 12:8]

I still do have compassion for my poor brethren. I know what it's like to be poor, to have nothing. I know deep in my heart that I want to help them.

What would Jesus do?

It was not written that he gave them money. Instead he gave them what they needed. He healed the sick, make a blind beggar see and many things.

Peter and John made a crippled beggar walk in using the name of Jesus.

I wish that I have that kind of faith to say “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”. I haven't done that too. I still don't have the boldness.

I have clothes, money, and most importantly, a deep and experiential knowledge of Christ, but I learned that we are no better than beggars. We have nothing. Everyday we 'beg' God for forgiveness of sins. We are very reliant on God. We cannot even work for our own righteousness. Still God graciously forgives us every time we confess our sins to Him.

I can only give what I have.

An Empty Pot

Often I find myself spinning around in an endless cycle of unsuspecting events that I thought that would change me.

I thought I way driven by my emotions all along. I thought I could get what I want all the time. I thought Francis Bacon was right when he said 'I think therefore I am'.

I was awfully wrong.

Time is fleeting. I can only be once of who I am in a moment. One moment pass and it's nothing. One 'me' pass and there's another 'me' coming.

I can only be young once, child once, alive once, do this thing and that once. And when eveything is over, nothing ever remains.

This then is the truth that was so elusive to me: That someone, a Master of the Universe, one not bound in time and decay, is holding me together. I can only see what I can, feel what I can, and perceive what I can. Someone out there sees everything, knows everything and feels everything.

I realised what I have been doing was moving in ways that I want like a stubborn piece of clay. The hands of God were guiding to a shape He desires, but I kept on moving. He never gave up though I bacame as hard as rock. He broke me, melted me in fire and molded me again.

He wanted to shape me into the image of His Son. Now I'm an empty piece of pot; an artwork only He knows what; a tool ready to be used in His own time and purpose.

How To Love

Not by a quick 'yes' nor an immediate 'no'
Nor by having less or by having so and so
But by being patient for God to let you know
And by being kind for you shall reap what you sow

Look at what others have and you will be bitter
If you are proud you'll somehow think that you're better
But love does not envy for God is your Father
Nor boast for we are no better than each other

Answer rudely and you'll add fuel to the flame
Stop self-seeking for all the glamor and the fame
But answer gently to wash away all his pain
And put others first so you will not live in vain

When your brother heaps burning coals over your head,
Or stains your white robe with his blood so crimson red
If he throws you a stone, better throw him some bread
And don't make a list of the wrongs he's done and said

If you find yourself drowning in the sea of lies,
So are your brothers dating with evil and vice,
Rejoice in truth and shut your ears from evil cries
And protect your brothers before their spirit dries

One day you'll find the one you love cheating on you
All hope is gone and you don't even have a clue
But love always trusts, must be pure and always true
Always hopes for day to come in a night so blue

Most trials and persecutions may weigh you down
And many failures can crease your forehead and frown
True love always perseveres and can never drown
Though with many failures it runs towards the crown

But there's a love that is so hard to comprehend
That He went down to earth with many hearts to mend
The Righteous One gave His life for a sinful friend
So great was His love for He loved them 'til the end

God Through the Years

In place where Satan has his throne were captives.
Light shown upon those who sought the Lord in darkness.
For they knew the Lord will reward him who believes,
So they stood their ground amidst the rage and madness.

Waters splashed. Seas churned. Rivers dried as blue turned to red.
They did not love their lives much as to shrink from death.
Rushing wind blew by and gave life to all the dead.
They stood up at the sound of the Almighty's breath.

Then the Lord brought back the captives to Mount Zion.
He made us taste the first-fruits which we ourselves are.
On the holy mountain stands the Lord's foundation:
Israel of God, the Lord's beloved nation.

The Lord redeemed us while we were in deep slumber.
Now we are those who dreamed, believed on things unseen.
Our hearts are filled with laughter as we remember
The great deeds of our Lord. So many have they been!

We got into the boat and caught nothing all night.
Day came and the Lord God threw our nets to the right.
Then the Bride will say in her heart 'Who bore me these?'
'Come all of you who weep! Come to my wedding feast'

And the nations look upon then who sow in tears.
And they see the image of the One they have pierced.
Gone are the sadness, worries and the needless fears.
They shall say 'The Lord has been with them through the years'

Now open the gates for the captives are coming.
Let all the watchmen shout to them who were lost:
'The Lord is merciful from the beginning'
'Give praise to Him--to the Lamb who conquered the cross'

Never Again

Never again will I close my eyes,
Or pretend to be blind, to sleep and die.
Never again will I find one reason
For me not to give myself hope.
Even though a thousand may rise against me
I will not fret, I will not bow down.
For they can never harm someone like I;
Who is already a wind passing by.
Look at me and see, take away your envy.
What am I compared to you?
What am I to those around the corner?
Empty are these words
To those who themselves are empty.
While the world goes forth,
I find myself going against its flow.
There's no meaning nor rhyme
In this world where all things may die.
Spend money there and spend time.
But everything will cease.
Until the last empty space is revealed.
And the last of it will be filled.
And the strong will stand up and die.
In the end, never again...
Never again will I hear good bye.

I Came For the Trash

I have had a fair share of parables in my life—most of them were from my Teacher. One day, I never thought I would be a part of a great one.

One day, my mother told me that someone has called my father to deliver hardware goods to some faraway place I knew nothing about. Unfortunately, my father was in USP Mabini gathering unused cartons for extra cash. Because I don't have anything to contact him, I was sent there with sore knees, still wearing my pajamas, riding a small bicycle under the heat of the sun.

When I arrived at the school, I told my father about the new delivery so I went home with him riding his multi-cab. Just after we arrived home, he sent me out again to USP to continue what he had started. That meant I had to bike my way up again.

Then I arrived in the school still wearing my pajamas. I saw the students in uniform staring at me as if I'm a trash collector. Others didn't notice me at all. Then I thought to myself, they didn't know I was valedictorian in elementary, rank thirteen in the graduate class of the most prestigious high school in Cebu and a civil engineering student in USC.

That time, it was different. I didn't go there to study. I went there to continue what my father had started. I went there as a trash collector. I came not for the students but for the trash.

I remembered my Teacher that time. He had also been a trash collector as I was. Maybe when He came down, He may have somewhat similar thoughts as I had when I arrived in the school. He was and is the Prince of Heaven after all.

After I finished doing my task, I remembered His very words: For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.

What More Could You Ask For?

When you ask for a friend,
His hand is always raised;
Ready to care and defend,
And wipe that tear off your face.

When you walk along the road,
With danger in every corner.
You are safe in his sight.
He's a friend like no other.

What more can you ask for?
What more can you seek?
A friend as precious as the gems
No one else can compare
What more can you ask for?
Don't ask for any less
I wish you could know him
A friend you can depend.

When you want to be heard
He's always there to listen.
When you want to be understood,
He knows how you're feeling.

If you're searching for answers,
He already had them all
For he knows all of them
All you need is to listen.

What more can you ask for?
What more can you seek?
A friend who always listens
While others only hear
What more can you ask for?
Don't ask for any less
I wish you would seek him
For in him you shall live.