In David’s apparent helplessness, he state the condition of his inner thoughts. Putting myself between fear and hope, I cast a long look forward towards this year’s Family Retreat at Lancaster,PA. Never in the last eight years of conducting retreat has my soul languish secretly and so in a hurry to get this year’s retreat over with! Because I wanted to see the outcome. Because I wanted to see how the LORD will move in our midst. Because I wanted to see how He will answer our prayers.

Lord my sighing is not hidden from You, placing myself in David’s brokenness! For Satan has  cast a critical and complaining spirit that has disturb and hurt the peace and harmony of the church unexpectedly! This destructive spirit has spread its shadow and tow many others under it.Oh how a simple germ can sicken the Body! Satan may have been toothless but retains his sharp claws. He can still inflict deep wounds. This spirit roars “we will see to it that No shall win” and work the phone to make it happen.I can only pray in brokenness. And build up love in the pulpit.I am aware, but this is God’s battle not mine.So I pray that from the place where this started it all, God shall release love and joy that will  edify the Body  and cast the evil spirit away. I sigh and sigh over it!

But I am not ready for the magnitude of God’s wonderful moves before His people. It’s remarkable! It’s awesome! It’s  grace so amazing! You have to be there to see and experience it. It has to be experienced to be described! The unity, cooperation,joy and warmth as people link to pray,sing and play was just remarkable.You can tell the enthusiasm and satisfaction of people in every aspect of retreat’s activities.And this has become more obvious due to the absence of destructive critical spirit.When God’s presence is indeed recognize we shall be drawn to Him. Suddenly, the venue, no matter how simple or glamorous slide back advertently! Same old songs are sung joyously, worship move marvelously, games were played enthusiastically and focus given undividedly.

Praise God great things He has done. For the hundred fifteen persons who have come, this 9th Family Retreat “Fireproofing The family” erase the ugly scar inflected by the 8th Retreat and cast out the evil spirit that has cause agony in church’s body.  By far, in openness, cooperation,joy,relationship restored and resolved,enthusiasm and focus, it’s remarkably up there. People are markedly grateful  and respectful to God’s leading and kindness this time around. The results of survey taken afterwards banner it all. An overwhelming positive comments and overwhelming endorsement of the same place for next year’s family retreat – a gigantic turnaround of heart by God’s own people.

I know I cannot thank you enough, but I don’t want to miss my opportunity to thank you.Thank you Retreat Com. Members (Tirso Quiachon, Minda Jardenico, Josie Rimmey and Tess Guevarra) for standing still and proven your point true. Thank you Retreat Servants (Jovie/Sis.Ligaya=Children ; Tom/Eden=Sports and Recreations ‘; Ken/Imelda= transporting Band’s Instruments) for sacrificing your time so that others may have theirs fully. Thank You Brod.Perze/Marchesa and Praise Team for preparing and leading in spirit-filled singing of praise and adoration to God during worship and devotional times. Thank you Maila , Dorothy and Raytsur for giving us memorable selected numbers.Brod. Maeng for helping me in Worship Service. Thank you Pastors Rommel,Hylton and Chilton for soul-searching, sin-convicting, obedient-causing messages you delivered from God. You are a wonderful team honoring God. We have winners out of you. PTL.

And for everyone, thank you for showing a very high positive attitude. Thank you for holding it high. My heart rejoices because we BRING the brand of Christianity into the place with us and and not the other way around. I thank God for many,many prayers utter months before this encounter with God take place.Your prayers and mine were greatly answer. His answers are far wiser than our requests.

May therefore this fresh touch of the Lord sustain us through the months that will come,until, the 10th Retreat comes around. After all, it’s only 12 months away.

God has gifted us with refreshing Family Retreat. Salamat po Panginoon Dios.

GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST. ALLELUIA.    

By this time of course  we understand that by the word revival, we mean, not the scheduled activities nor emphasis we commonly perceived. In our thoughts, in our hearts ,we mean, the extraordinary presence of God among His people yet to be seen nor experience before by this generation.His extraordinary presence as if he is nowhere and then suddenly HE Is. A revival that is difficult to explain not because we cannot but because it is for us to experience in order to describe it.

SJBCI has set her heart to pray desperately for God’s mighty refreshing presence because of the sad state of the Body of Christ. We can see the sad and alarming dryness and dullness of faith all around us.As if, a curse has been cast over and so deadness of faith is prevalent. Like trees in winter,faith looks like lifeless! It’s a dreaded sight. Such sight drove us to revival praying.

In confession of sin and brokenness we prayed, “O Lord bend us, bend us. Grant us that old time power.” Tightly hanging on His promise in Isaiah 44:1,3, “For I will pour water on him, who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground. I will pour my spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring”

That will be  extraordinary presence of God.After all , His Spirit that will pour out shall be overwhelming and far-reaching, far beyond each one of us can describe.

Oh, that SJBCI would not give up nor relent. For God’s apparent delay is His perfect timing.He never had been imperfect. Not once.Not never.

Oh, that YOU who could read this join us on this sacred stride. We implore you. We encourage you. Let us seek the face of God in humble revival praying that the whole earth may be filled with His glory once more.And to that end, TO GOD BE THE GLORY GREAT THING HE HAS DONE… ALLELUIA!!!

That’s not all my Father-in-Law has prayed for us when he prayed for my wife and I at the

occasion of our 25th wedding anniversary yesterday.

My Father-in-Law is now 82  years old. To this day he remains gentle and kind-spirited man.

His kind spirit is balanced by his hardworking body and generous soul.He is loaded with much patience.

I could say that he is the kind of father-in-Law every Son-in-Law would want to have and be proud of.

He never spoke a lot.He would rather listen and take in.He would laugh as he listens, to convey his

agreement and appreciation. When disagreeing, subtly  shakes his head and lowered his head.

He has observed how we,my wife and I, have humbly started in life as a couple,and then with Genesis,

as a family building up, and then with Joyjoy and Vanessa as thriving tribe,struggled and came through.

His thoughts for us follow from Baguio to Manila to U.S. of A. His prayers no doubt shadowed us. He

never stop to be a Dad to us despite us growing older and having a life and family of our own.

I would not know how long will he pray for us, but as it is, his prayers has  nortured us. I

remember the prayers of Isaac to Jacob.And Jacob to his children. My Father-in-Law’s prayer got no closer to those

prayers but so what! In my Father-in Law’s own simple words, he asked the LORD of Isaac and Jacob to grant

us years full of life and life of many,many, years.

We may indeed reach our golden anniversary, by the grace of God, and yes, diamond anniversary, by more grace of God,

but by then, my Father-in-Law’s voice will might have been long gone.But his prayers, his simple prayers, his many

simple prayers for us, deeply embedded in our hearts,will for sure will melt our hearts again,and, again.

Oh, yeah, we are blessed with a godly man like him, and looks forward to moments of shared time before the LORD of Abraham,Isaac

and Jacob, when Daddy prays…

Miss Charlyn Thompson lend me her book, When The Elephants Dance, a book written in the waning days of WW 2 in the Philippines. The story revolves around the Karangalan family who hides with their neighbors in a cramped, where they glean hope from the family stories and folktales they tell each other. Those stories of love, survival, and family blend the supernatural with the rich, little known history of the Philippines, the centuries of Spanish colonization, the power of the Catholic church, and the colorful worlds of the Spanish, Mestizos, and Filipino cultures.

“When the elephants dance, the chicken must be careful”is the complete sentence. And the metaphor is simple. The United States and Japan engage in an epic war in the Pacific,where the Philippines is at its center. Two great beasts, circling one another, trumpeting loudly,thumping their huge legs on the ground creating destructions and dismay all around them. In the middle is the Philippines and its people-the chickens!

Tess Uriza Holte brings to magical and terrifying life on stormy of the hope and courage needed to survive in warfare. She masterfully weaves in the stories of three brave Filipinos- a teenage brother and sister and a guerilla fighter as they were caught in the battle against the vicious Japanese harassments.

Love for the country,persistence, and faith in God triumph at the end. Faith increases in the most trying moments. While desperations and helplessness weakened people at times, faith in God sustained them to an ever fresh hope. Faith at the end emerge victorious.

Certainly Miss Charlyn Thompson,a half-Filipina herself, whose Filipino Dad served in the United States Navy during WW 2 , finds enormous inspirations in the faith, resilience and courage of Filipino  people of which  she has deep affinity. Thanks Charlyn for sharing this book of enduring faith with me.

Matibay ang Pinoy. Salamat at Purihin ang Panginoon.

Consider the preaching topics (under our theme)  we’re dealing in our church and the forthcoming Family Retreat of which I am preparing my soul and spirit with.Both, bring  restlessness in my soul!.

The following read help me a lot : Prayer (Philip Yancey); Power Through Prayer, Prayer and Praying Men, The Essentials of Prayer (Edward M. Bounds); L.O.V.E.(Drs.Les and Leslie Perrott); Love and Respect (Dr. Emerson Eggerichs);Love and War (John and Stasi Eldredge); Love Dare,  and, When The Elephants Dance (Tess Uriza Hotte).I cannot say in good conscience that I can remember all the things  I was able to read, but at least, have a good digest of what I was able to understand. In my preaching, I shall mention  helpful insights I noted. I pray that it shall feed your soul too.

However, my failure to keep up with my posting on this corner has no excuse.It’s my failure,pure and simple.I apologize! I  shall do my best to keep up with this task now that a huge chunk of a load is off my attention and time. I owe this to you, you faithful readers of sjbci.com.

Pray for me. Pray that I would find no reason nor  an excuse of not posting a read just because I was  busy,  or,  worst, doesn’t feel like doing it. God forbid!

Alas, my Savior allowed me to witness His grace and power at Agape’s  three-day revival emphasis last weekend. What I have observed causes me to rejoice with God my Savior. Easily I can describe the manifest results like,persons who came forward, the brokenness and the likes but  those are temporary and trivial. Those manifestations would not promote nor confirm revival. I understand. My soul was more excited about the kind of seed planted in the heart of Agape’s people. A seed that may finally blossom into REFRESHING times of the Lord. That’s the wonder I am contemplating about. And it is yonder.

The three-day activities may be over but the humbling, the praying, the seeking of His face and the turning from sin (2 Chron.7:14)  are not. These after all are  the necessary preparations on the part of God’s people seeking revival. No one can schedule revival  nor produce it. Only God can, based on His sovereignty.  Agape Church is very much aware of this Covenant based promise “If my people…then I will hear from heaven…will forgive their sins, and heal their land”.

God allowed me to stand before a great cloud of witnesses for three occasions not for the wisdom that I got, but precisely for ignorance I’m trying to dispel. Revival, the phenomenon I thought I knew. Revival, the extraordinary presence of  God I thought I already experienced. A presumption, I shared with the Agape brethren. A church nonetheless tirelessly and perennially  lighting up the hope of a coming revival.

Definitions of revival help, knowledge of long ago revivals inspires, but nothing can take the place of  experiencing revival. That’s what this emphasis is all about. Agape desires and longs for revival in their midst, in our times. I saw that  longing from their eyes. I was moved by their passions. It was a moving experience.

This three-day emphasis never remained faceless nor nameless gathering of saints. God brought me closer to several of them for a reason and purpose. Rev. and Mrs. Martinez for forging a stronger bond in the ministry. Mr.and Mrs Victor Pernites whose politeness and kindness  melt my soul . Bang and Violy for a generous servant spirit . These and many more among them whose names are all written in the Book of Life for eternal record of kindness. I am richer because of these added people in my pastoral life. Needless to say, I am more favored.

I came, I saw ,and I went out greatly inspired and blessed for what the Lord has allowed me to observe at Agape B.C. They called for a sacred assembly, they gathered around the Word , they presented themselves before God. Below is their text for that weekend:

                          Turn to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping,

                          and with mourning…rend your heart, and not your garments;

                          Return to the Lord your God. For He is gracious and merciful.

                          Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents

                          from doing harm . (Joel 2:12-13).

I went home exhausted, consumed in the spirit but inspired and blessed. My soul is richer and my hope for the coming revival renewed. The Lord and God of our fathers, who has moved mightily in the distant past, is still the same God who reigns and  moves today. He can DO it AGAIN. That gives impetus for A HEART CRY For Revival:

                         Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee;

                         How great THOU art, How great THOU art!

                         Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee,

                         How great Thou art, How great THOU art!

I’m thinking about the recent “Be My Guest” Sunday campaign done in the church.It was a wonder to observe and wonderful to experience.

How shall I start ?  First, I guess, in prayer. In prayer meetings and in private devotionals of church people,who pleaded with God to show His mercy to the unsaved and prompt obedience from His people.  Church people relentlessly interceded for people to come to the House of Worship, and many of them did come.  The unseen hands of God moved and we saw  the results.The one hundred sixty eight attendance was not extraordinary news  especially if you’re thinking of Anniversary celebrations,or birthdays, or child dedications in the church, no, not at all, but surprisingly large when seen purely  from reason of worship , when the church average only  ninety five in worship.

Second, members’ participation. Many have taken this campaign as a personal mission.They called and invited friends tirelessly.They had given out tracts and magnet stickers promoting the event. At the end, the surge in attendance confirmed their unwavering persistence and the work done in secret rewarded. This intensity of efforts has given them an indication that if they can set their hearts together into doing a task such as this, God is honored and He honored the labors of His people. We can only express  admiration for those participants who even walked the second mile.

Third, the church in joyous worship. That Sunday is extra jubilant. The prevailing presence of the Lord is evident.The spirit and heart of KOINONIA  team as they sung is so engaging that the people were naturally drawn to God in praise and sang in glorious exaltation.There’s something extraordinary in that time of praise.The house of worship was ‘rocking’ in offerings of praiseful singing. There were so much release of adoration and praise to God from grateful hearts. And the amazing thing is, it was jovial but never like a carnival, you sense order and decorum. Joyful but never chaotic. Loud,yes, but not noisy, strong but with finesse, the order was never disorder. It was a celebration of praise wonderful to experience…”heaven came down and glory filled my soul “. God’s prevailing presence is unmistakable.

The two selected numbers and invitational hymn fitted perfectly to the order and context of the occasion,woven nicely into the fabric of worship. Not an added decor but a crucial component to  present a more perfect shawl to wave into an audience of ONE…the KING of Glory

Fourth, the message of salvation that assures eternal destiny.The finished work on the cross was once again re-told and it came with same convicting power. Many have come to the altar in response to the call of calvary ,extending enough time for those people to be prayed for.  The cross through the years has NEVER lost its power.

The Worship Leader has kept the Order of Worship in adorable way. While there were glitches in sound systems and video clips, yet, those were overriden by the Lord and blessed the entire worship  still. Machines and mechanical  problems will distract us only to the extent we’ll allow them to. There are no excuses, only exuding with confidence that God’s eye is upon the heart of a worshipping man,whom He created to be in fellowship with him.

There were many Sundays,I know,  but last Sunday,  was a re-enforcement of an old truth casually treated , God is never  a guest in His House, HE DWELLS  there. And when we do recognize this, every  Sunday shall become a testimony of His prevailing presence, and everything will fall into right places.

The yearly Family Camp Retreat of SJBCI is always a time of isolation and inspiration. Since 2001, it was one progressing and developing  spiritual journey.Needless to say , a lot has been looking forward to it  for the rare opportunity of spiritual experience it generates .Family Camp retreat spiritually rejuvenates.

The places we went to for this purpose were owned, managed and operated by reputable Christian bodies,even the last one, Willow V. ( Mennonites). These places without exemption has their own merits and demerits.Like two-edged sword,facilities, amenities ,and,locations,can be contributory or detrimental to a given objective  of the given group. We have a taste of either side.

In attaining the purpose of retreat, we geared program of activities towards this end.Factors outside of our program may detract us, and depending on the severity of effect to a given person, or degree of offend to the Body,become a nuisance and thus robbing us off of focus  and breed disliking.But what we decided to do and how we use our time together  should be the weighting  indicators of our serious attempts to achieve our purpose. We have to be focus.

One profound character of Church Family Retreat is on  TOGETHERNESS. We are ONE and TOGETHER in the pursuit of the THEME. Thus, Program Schedule defines and guides the entire body – from early gathering to late dismissal, one  Body in  motion.Admittedly,there’s  only a micro space in between activities that a person has  really has “make” time if ever he wants to pursue other things, say,extra sleep, personal  devotion or  family walk,otherwise, he would impinge on Retreat Program which unfortunately  many ,over the years , has done! A sad footnote!

Over the years, expense, numbers and make up of campers (with participating churches now),influenced the choice of places and preferred dating. Expense narrowed us to places that we can afford and yet has the maximum facilities we need.We look for  place that can give us  maximum benefits both body and soul as well. This is hard. All places has its plusses  and minuses. But we have to content with the presence of dislikes. In my heart I asked, what is a good rule to follow here? I am lost in my own search, but I found consolation on Abe Lincoln’s philosophy on this kind of choice, “The true rule, in determining to embrace, or reject anything, is not whether it have evil on it, but whether it have more of evil, than of good. There are few things wholly evil, or wholly good…our best judgment of the preponderance between them is continually demanded”.We really have to weight which one best cater to our increasing needs.

Ah, my profession is at sea.I was a Nautical Science holder.  Sea and seaside has a special lot in my inner person. I don’t know about you, but the grandest serenity I’ve seen was out there in the open sea. When for days and days sailing you have nothing but sea. But at night, when the moon is on its fullest and the sea was calm and the stars were lighting dark corners of sky,and the ship is  knifing through the stillness of the sea, there’s nothing so  beautiful than that! I am always moved by that,on the bridge of the ship during my watch, I feel so all alone, so lost in the beauty of God’s wonderful creation.What a tranquility!The magnet and the magic of those moments were forever itched in my heart . That’s why Sandy C. rate highest in my retreat preference, but thank God ,my preference doesn’t have to be THE factor. Many doesn’t share my attraction for scenery like that! 

Over the years of having Church Family Retreat now, I’m yet to go home  frustrated and dejected because of external factors. Tired? Yes! Spent? Yes!  Exhausted? Yes!Physically, and mentally I was spent! Leadership is consuming! But hey, what keeps me up and alert is the thought that our people more than my own need  for spiritual feeding has been placed in the situation where they can receive so much from the Lord, that their hearts and mind can be filled with the knowledge and love of the Lord Jesus Christ, and like in the front seat,  taking advantage of the opportunity given them, closer to Christ…in the nearness and shadow of His Majesty.That excite my spirit, no price for that…seeing your people,together, gathered around their BLESSED SAVIOR,JESUS CHRIST,SAVORING HIS  GRACIUS PRESENCE.  Yes, that to me is one significant isolation to  one magnificent inspiration. Glory and honor be to our God .Alleluia.

See all of you next year…Family Retreat 2010.

Where’s  the church gone wrong?  Has His people abandoned their God? Has God, withdrew His hands from his people?

I dreaded the thoughts! But we cannot deny the signs of the times.The world becoming stronger and stronger and the church living weaker and weaker. It’s time to confront the situation head on, we have a problem ,and the problem is US !

Could it be that we have abandoned our FIRST LOVE? The Lord JESUS is no longer the love of our life ? That’s why the passion and zeal for Him has ebbed and retreated. We don’t possess anymore the kind of conviction and compassion that once fueled our fervor for Him. Our love became confessional and not relational.We switched from loving out to loving in.We have ignored the world, Christ exclusive to us and not inclusive for the world. Fatal mistake!

But what if we’re still doing everything we can?  Our steps are still on housing developments, homes of friends knocking on doors and bringing the Gospel of love and salvation!  Still on our prayer gatherings and praying for lost friends and loved one by names !  Still praying and fasting for God  to lead us and guide us on the works of our hands ! Still  with payer covenants and Bible Study groups.Yes,we’re still much engaged with these things ordained by Him.

We like to believe that many of our local churches are striving hard and  has experience growth at different levels. God honors their faith. But our collective gains are still not making a dent to the world  nor the world sees  God as  among us and living in us!  Despite the presence of the miraculous, the world remain  unconvinced…we are indeed  in extraordinary dullness and dryness of times.

We have Mega-churches by the hundreds all over the country. Leaflets and religious tracks by the millions hand out. Religious programs air daily all over the nation,religious cruises and travels during falls and summers  , festivals and block parties at  our calendars,name it and we have it it different forms,in cities and and in cities and towns, yet still, despite these extravaganza of activities, we don’t see the kind of results we prayed about! We are not seeing nor generating the kind of response from the lost we’re hoping to see ! Indeed ,a lack of spiritual power for Gospel ordinances.

This is extraordinary times.We need  the extraordinary presence of God. We need direct intervention from on High. We need God’s glorious visitation. We need mighty revival from the Fountainhead. We need a TIME OF REFRESHING from the Lord. Let’s get down on our knees and repent and go back to our first love…back to the Shepherd of our soul. He alone can bring extraordinary results from his extraordinary people. Glory be to God.

In Resh, three revival prayers or thoughts were uttered." Revive me according to your word" (v.154),"Revive me according to your judgments" (v.156), and, "Revive me,O Lord according to your lovingkindness"(v.159). All of these in relation to "law", "statutes" and "word".

This gesture of the Psalmist set me to thinking.One, if ever the Lord would choose to bring in revival,He will do it according to His Word, that is, He will not move contrary to His word. Another, in begging God for revival,that is "to cause to live", the psalmist insinuate me to beg God to transform my life,to breathe new life back to my soul, an obedience that is not mechanical but spontaneous obedience to the Spirit because my spirit is renewed. And lastly, that this plea is based on God’s covenantal love and just nature.

My mind is suddenly flooded with thoughts of 2 Chronicles 7:14 "…If my people…will humble themselves…and pray and seek my face,and turn from their wicked ways…" It’s gripping ! Oh,how  these words rip my heart and soul apart. I, we, us, we’re urged to true humbling, praying,seeking and turning. There is no other way around. It’s a thorough cleansing , inside out. Then, and only then, God, the Covenant-keeping and Covenant -fulfilling God says, "I will hear from heaven ,and will forgive their sin and heal their land". God is more than willing to fulfill His side of the covenant.The problem lies on our side of the covenant!

How else can I farther encourage my people in believing that God is TRUE to His PROMISES?  I don’t know but I am not giving up. He who has set my heart to long for revival is not through with me, nor His church yet, despite our failures to keep the will to stand.To stand in the gap. To wait until flesh coated the dry bones again.

We are ignorant of His  time set for the coming of true revival in our times. But my soul is taking refuge in those three prayers … in RESH,  I  REST. Glory Be To God Almighty.