A Beautiful New Friendship

Latest update on my Conversations with the "Fallen".

Well, after three days of (intense?) discussions with Mr. Gerencser, we both finally agreed to be friends.

Yes, I am friends with an atheist. Got any problem with that?

Now before you all condemn me as having been "lost" to the other side, let me just bring up my old trusty Bible and qualify my actions:

The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, 'He's a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!' But wisdom is shown to be right by its results."- (Matthew 11:19 NLT)
And to further qualify, I PRAYED to God that He allow me to be friends with this guy.

Now you may start casting your stones.

As for me, I think this is the beginning of beautiful new friendship. :-)

Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. - (Romans 5:7-8 NLT)
May God bless you all this weekend!

Falling in love with the "Enemy"

I've posted earlier that I'm having a talk with former baptist pastor and now self-proclaimed heretic and atheist Mr. Bruce Gerencser.

Man, I am so IN LOVE with this guy! He never ceases to amaze me with his comments! I swear, just a few more posts and I'll have enough to write a book!

I HIGHLY urge anyone who is even remotely interested in spiritual matters - and has the time to do so - to come take a look at our discussions. Again the link is here: http://fallenfromgrace.net/2011/03/23/no-bible-no-christianity-why-do-many-christians-distance-themselves-from-the-bible/

Please, PLEASE, do not antagonize Mr. Gerencser. I honestly want to end up being his friend.

And for my fellow believers in Christ, please DO pray for me and Mr. Gerencser. I don't care that he's an atheist. I REALLY want to be his friend. Please?

Conversations with the “Fallen”

During last Sunday’s fellowship service, my pastor and I were browsing on the internet when he showed me a blog site that he came across during his online research.

I was immediately intrigued by this site, as it seemed to me quite the opposite of mine.

I am now engaging in a discussion with it’s author, Mr. Bruce Gerencser.

He seems to me to be a perfectly rational and decent human being who has experienced some bad things in his life. Which to me means that he is no different from the rest of us humans.

I cannot express how excited and overjoyed I am to be given this opportunity to have a conversation with a person who in the spiritual sense seems to be my polar opposite.

I noticed during my early Taekwondo days that some practitioners tend to balk at the prospect of sparring with others, especially with those from higher skill levels. I understand their trepidation because I usually get paired with the most feared practitioners in our gym because of my height.

Although it cost me a lot of pain and humiliation, I am nevertheless thankful for these sessions because it gave me a real opportunity to learn about myself: my limits, the effectiveness of my techniques, etc.

In other words, sparring with someone, even under the prospect of pain and defeat, is an opportunity to grow as a human being (granting that none of you get killed in the process).

Let me make this disclaimer now that I am in no way attempting to convert Mr. Gerenscer back into the faith. If during the course of our discussions he chooses to change his mind, that is completely his prerogative and I take no credit for it. Similarly, if I make any revisions to my personal belief, this is due to my own decisions as well. (sounds like a traditional oral waiver prior to a kung fu match doesn’t it J).

You may view Mr. Gerencser’s site at fallenfromgrace.net.

You may view our conversation at http://fallenfromgrace.net/2011/03/23/no-bible-no-christianity-why-do-many-christians-distance-themselves-from-the-bible/

You may also read Mr. Gerencser’s testimony at http://fallenfromgrace.net/2010/03/01/why-i-retired-from-the-ministry/

If you decide to comment, please DO be polite. I shall not be held responsible for any scathing remarks you may receive as a result of your interactions with Mr. Gerencser or his friends at the site.

May the Great Arbiter watch over our discussions.

"You have heard the law that says, 'Love your neighbor' and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! [Bless those who curse you. Do good to those who hate you.] Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For He gives His sunlight to both the evil and the good, and He sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. - (Matthew 5:43-48 NLT)

Why the Debate for God Must Continue

For all our vaunted technology, all our advances in the sciences and the arts, and our proliferation as the dominant species on this planet, we are still very much immature.

I am aware that this is a bold and audacious statement that I claim. But I point to the facts as my proof.

Our best technologies have yet to protect us from earthquakes: a natural phenomenon as old as our planet itself.

Our advances in the sciences and the arts have yet to cure humankind from death and disease, or prevent wars and famine.

And our proliferation as a species on our planet has generally brought imbalances to our world’s ecologies, rather than augment or improve them.

For all our vaunted strengths, there remains one fatal weakness: we do not fully know ourselves to know how much of an impact we have on our planet and each other.

I have not seen enough or experienced enough of the world to claim to know and understand all viewpoints. But I have been given enough to know and distinguish truth as it relates to humanity.

I know that deep inside, humankind in general aspires to be something bigger than itself: that there is a deep understanding that “what is” is not “what it should be”.

There is something within us that longs for a greater satisfaction because we have not found it yet.

The nihilists among us would say that we can only be “satisfied” upon death.

I refuse to believe this.

Because if death were the ultimate satisfaction, then why does life struggle against it so?

Why does every human try with all of his or her might to leave an indelible impression on creation?

To make sure that creation knows that we exist.

We do not long for death. We fear it. We fear the implications of oblivion.

We fear that all that we are and will be: everything that we ever do in life, is destined only to fade away.

With the inevitability of death, we fear that ultimately, we are worth nothing.

And so we rebel against death. We struggle to find ways with which to cheat it, to prevent it from laying to waste our growth and our accomplishments.

You do not believe me? Just look at the images that our media produce around you. Do you not see beauty and youth displayed? Is this not a flagrant attempt to capture humanity in its “prime”?

Why do we struggle to build monuments to our power? Why do we laud our own accomplishments and development?

Because we know we cannot be satisfied with death.

As the Preacher of Scripture observes:

“What do people really get for all their hard work? I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end. So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can.” - (Ecclesiastes 3:9-12 NLT)

Our rebellion against death is actually a rebellion against the Creator: the One who laid the foundations of the Earth. For who else decreed that death be the fate of man?

"Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return." - (Genesis 3:17-19 NKJV)

And so the Preacher continues:

“I also thought about the human condition—how God proves to people that they are like animals. For people and animals share the same fate—both breathe and both must die. So people have no real advantage over the animals. How meaningless! Both go to the same place—they came from dust and they return to dust. For who can prove that the human spirit goes up and the spirit of animals goes down into the earth? So I saw that there is nothing better for people than to be happy in their work. That is why we are here! No one will bring us back from death to enjoy life after we die.” - (Ecclesiastes 3:18-22 NLT)

Even the Psalmist concludes:

No one can live forever; all will die. No one can escape the power of the grave. - (Psalms 89:48 NLT)

Is there no hope for humanity then? Do we all bow our heads and accept the fate that God has laid on us?

We look and observe at the death happening all around us, and we conclude that God does not exist.

It is our one last desperate act of rebellion at our fate.

If we cannot convince God that we are worth saving, then we shall deny Him the pleasure of seeing us grovel and beg for our lives.

So we use every bit of our power to pick Him apart: To dissect Him and to prove that He does not exist.

After all, what is one more God to be thrown in the trash bin of history?

But God has thrown a monkey wrench into our machinations against Him.

He proved once and for all that He is a God who saves.

He came down among us and became Immanuel – “God is with us.”

The very name He chose for Himself means “God saves”.

And He demonstrated that death has no power against Him. By this, He proved that His ways are just and true, and that He is willing to save those who wish to be saved.

His only requirement is this: that we turn from our sins and come back to Him.

This is the heart and essence of the Gospel of life: there is life after death for those who truly seek God.

Our greatest sin, the sin that has plagued us since the beginning, has always been this:

That we don’t need God in order to live.

We do need Him. Now more than ever.

For those who have come to realize this, it is imperative that we continue to argue for the case of God with our very own lives on this earth.

For death is right at our doorsteps.

And only the One True Living God can redeem us from it.

“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? " - (1 Corinthians 15:55 NLT)

When Truth Becomes Relative

"But the master replied, 'You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn't plant and gathered crops I didn't cultivate, why didn't you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.' "Then he ordered, 'Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

(Matthew 25:26-30 NLT)

I have heard it said that the Christian life is unfair in that it seeks to condemn all other viewpoints. I know this because I myself have once spoken these very words.

There is a book that my wife and I have been trying to find when we were once on a vacation in the Philippines, but had been sold out. The book is called “I’m Okay – You’re Not”, authored by John Shore. It is a book meant to correct the idea that Christianity is nothing but pontification meant to subdue and subjugate an otherwise “free-thinking” humanity. (I have yet to read the book.)

It does not help that prior to my own awakening, I myself have met a few “Christians” who are only too eager to rebuke and proselytize “non-believers”. And while I would give some of them the benefit of the doubt, I suspect that most of them knew inwardly that they were seeking glory, not for God, but for themselves.

This of course has given rise to the impression that Christianity is NOT a legitimate religion, but a political tool meant to elevate and secure the status of those who would seek to convert others to the faith.

But then again, isn’t this true of all religions? Or for that matter, any discipline?

By necessity, does not the newcomer or disciple acquiesce to the more experienced in life?

Would it not be a perversion of nature if the newcomer would dictate to the more experienced?

It would be like a newborn child dictating to its parents the direction where its life should go.

The key difference here is that a newborn is a tabula rasa - a clean slate. It has no pre-conceived notions about anything, and thus is just begging to be nurtured and discipled in the ways of life.

The problem begins when the glass is already full.

In one of His more “infamous” pronouncements, the Messiah commented on the weak faith of a rich man by saying:

"How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God! In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!" - (Luke 18:24-25 NLT)

While I myself have once seen it fit to dismiss this as an unrealistic call to asceticism, I have come to realize that the Messiah had an additional layer of meaning to His comment.

It means that we who are rich in the varied experiences of life, are wont to give them up for new, and perhaps more legitimate experiences. We would rather stay in the comfort zones of the familiar, rather than venture into the realm of inexperience.

But to admit inexperience is the essence of humility. And without humility, there can be no growth.

It is here that I wish to refer to the Messiah’s comments on who are the “greatest” in His Kingdom:

"I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.  - (Matthew 18:3-4 NLT)

So to be as humble as a child - to admit that there are things that we are inexperienced in and thus are in need of learning - is the essence of Godly living.

Here begins the danger of relativism.

Relativism holds that there is NO absolute standard for belief: that people are entitled to what they believe, regardless of what they believe, and are free to act out their lives according to those beliefs.

A relativist therefore, is a person who denies the possibility of learning new things, simply because he/she thinks that everyone is entitled to how they want to live.

A relativist will say that I am entitled to choose my own path in the wilderness of life because my path is as good as anyone else’s.

If you ask me, moral relativism is just an excuse to justify a self-indulgent – and hence ultimately destructive – way of life.

I say this because there are things which are true despite our varying beliefs.

There are paths in life that are better than others, based on what is established to be true.

But what is truth? The relativist will argue. What constitutes truth? Isn’t everything based on our own opinion?

Whatever we experience is highly subjective, because no two humans can ever experience the same thing in exactly the same way.

In other words, our perception of truth itself is relative. Therefore, truth is relative.

This is a fallacious argument because it is self-contradicting.

If relativism holds true, then the position of a relativist itself cannot be true, because it is itself a position relative to others.

If relativism is true, then nothing can be true, for everything, including relativism becomes relative.

Is there not a great danger inherent in this?

If we accept the idea that there is no truth, then we have condemned ourselves to a life that is without direction: without purpose, because nothing really matters.

It doesn’t matter what I do with my life because anything I do is okay.

It doesn’t matter if I strive to be excellent, because excellence is relative. So why bother being excellent?

Relativism dooms us therefore, to a life of mediocrity.

There is a book in Scripture which perfectly captures the hopelessness and meaninglessness of the relative life: the Book of Ecclesiastes.

The first verses of the first chapter sums it all:

"Everything is meaningless," says the Teacher, "completely meaningless!" What do people get for all their hard work under the sun?

(Ecclesiastes 1:2-3 NLT)

The greatest danger of relativism is that it denies the existence of God.

In a relativist’s world, there can be no God; because admitting that God exists means that there is a standard to which we must all strive for.

This would completely destroy the relativist’s position that anything anyone does is okay. The relativist would find the idea of God repugnant because it would mean that there is someone whose ways are better, and would therefore be superior to others.

If there is no God, then there is no one qualified to tell us what and what not to do with our lives.

This I believe, is at the heart of the relativist’s argument.

A relativist cannot accept God, because he/she cannot accept that there is someone who is better than him/her.

Because that in turn would mean that the relativist has to make an effort to become better him/herself. It would mean that he/she has to initiate the long and arduous task of correcting his/her own behavior, of discarding long held-beliefs, of letting go of pre-conceived notions about life, in order to learn new ways that will make him/her a better person.

It would mean that he/she would have to discipline him/herself.

And discipline requires a lot of work.

It would make the relativist come face to face with his/her own laziness.

For relativism is the argument of a lazy person.

It is the argument of a person lazy to search for and confront the truth.

-------

Truth by nature is exclusive. And being exclusive, it is the ultimate standard for anything.

There is nothing greater than truth. It is the bedrock upon which all our meaningful decisions in life are based, whether we are aware of it or not.

The truth emancipates us from a mediocre and meaningless life.

The truth sets us free.

If this be the case, then should we not devote ourselves completely and utterly to the pursuit of truth?

Unless of course, it serves one’s purpose to suppress the truth.

Now what meaningful reason could one have to suppress that which gives freedom?

For that, you need simply ask those who live under the yoke of tyranny and oppression.

Some of them are giving up their lives to be free as we speak.

And they will be counted among the exalted in God’s Kingdom.

-------

Is it so difficult to search for truth?

Don’t we have guidelines and criteria to follow in our search for truth?

As far as I’ve discovered, Scripture has given us two:

1)    Every fact may be established by the testimony of two or more reliable witnesses. (Deuteronomy 17:6, 19:15; Numbers 35:30; Matthew 18:16; John 8:17-18; 2 Corinthians 13:1; 1Timothy 5:19; Hebrews 10:28)

2)    Truth is known by its fruit. (Matthew 7:20, 11:19, 12:33, Luke 6:43-44, 7:35, John 15:2)

If I were an opponent of truth, I would make it my utmost priority to keep these two from being known.

Conversely, this means that the champions of truth must make it their priority to reveal them to everyone else.

So are you for truth or against it?

Let those who are wise understand these things. Let those with discernment listen carefully. The paths of the LORD are true and right, and righteous people live by walking in them. But in those paths sinners stumble and fall.

(Hosea 14:9 NLT)

God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied.

(Matthew 5:6 NLT)

Jesus came and told His disciples, "I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

(Matthew 28:18-20 NLT)

Why Do You Weep O Earth?

What does one do on the day of the Apocalypse?

When the ambitions of humankind are finally revealed to be the falsehoods that they truly are, what shall humankind do?

Shall we weep? Shall we mourn?

Or shall we rejoice?

Many of you will begin to think that I am a fool for writing this. Many of you will dismiss me as a doomsayer, a false prophet, a charlatan, or worse - a madman.

And your reactions will be right.

What will be wrong is what is within your hearts.

The Messiah warned His disciples of the coming age of tribulation, when the earth and the heavens shall be shaken to reveal what is unshakable.

The signs of the times shall reveal the coming of this age, when darkness shall cover all the land.

For the “abomination that causes desolation stands in the most Holy Place.”

If you have continued to read up to this point, then I ask of you, I beg of you, please read further and understand. These are not my words. I did not make these up, for one cannot lay a foundation other than that which was laid. They are the words of truth hidden in the passages of Scripture. Those with a heart and eye for truth will understand.

God exists. He is real.

Though He cannot be seen, He dwells among us.

God is spirit: that unseen force that drives all of creation.

He is wise, intelligent and powerful beyond measure. Humankind in its totality does not even begin to compare to what He is able to accomplish.

For we are but dust in the wind to Him.

And now the dust has risen up to usurp God.

God dwells in the hearts of every living being He has created. And His most Holy Place is reserved in the hearts of humans, whom He has exalted above all other things on this planet.

We who are to be the stewards of His life, have exchanged that privilege for a lie.

Instead of fixing our eyes on God and eternity, we have set our gaze on that which is perishable and meant for destruction and death.

For a lie cannot be sustained. What is not real cannot last.

Our ambitions have severely fallen short of what God has made us for.

And now the very fabric of the universe cries out with our sins.

For instead of God sitting on the throne of life, it finds the lord of deception poised to be revealed to all nations.

The hearts of humankind are filled with his darkness. And how deep that darkness is.

Are you afraid? If so then that is also the right reaction.

For the Day of the Lord is not a day of light, but a day of darkness.

It will be the day of God’s wrath unleashed.

And the dust shall be humbled once and for all.

But for you who are the children of the light; you who continue to live by the truth and have refused to be blinded by the lies of the evil one; you who have remained loyal despite being surrounded by sin; whose love have not turned cold; it will be a day when you will receive your reward.

So do not mourn o Earth. Do not fret ye children of God.

For our King arrives to take His rightful place in our hearts.

He shall drive away the darkness once and for all and destroy those who usurp Him.

Rejoice for He is worthy! He is the shepherd who has given up His own life for His flock. His very blood sanctifies those whom He has called, and who know His voice.

The coming destruction shall pass by those who carry His mark. Those who have cleansed and purified themselves with His blood shall be given life.

But woe to those who have chosen to dwell in the darkness instead of the light.

Woe to those who have kept their hearts shut to the rightful King.

They will go about their day and their evil ways, not expecting anything to happen to them.

The Day of the Lord shall find them like a thief in the night.

Keep your lamps burning. Keep your hearts clean for His return.

For the signs of the times bear witness to His coming. He will come and not delay.

I will gladly bear the shame and humiliation of being proven wrong, if it means that life will be spared.

But these are not my words. These are not my predictions. The foundation has been set long ago. I would be but a fool not to want to meet my King when He arrives.

I pray that all those to whom I send this message that it reaches their hearts in time.

May God bless and keep you all.

The Eyes of God

Recently, I have been reading Miyamoto Musashi’s Book of Five Rings (Go Rin no Sho) as translated and interpreted by Scot Conway of Guardian Martial Arts (available for download here: http://www.guardianacademymembers.com/articlesfiverings.pdf).

In the chapter entitled “Musashi’s Nine Precepts”, the first precept states that “One should not think dishonestly.”

It seems a simple enough precept, especially if you consider Mr. Conway’s interpretation of “Don’t fool yourself.”

It simply means that we always think in terms of truth and reality. We think in terms of what is real and not by what is not real.

I can understand the practicality of this in martial arts, where thinking unrealistically can literally cost you your life. You do not engage a superior opponent for example, without taking a realistic assessment of the opponent’s skills, as well as your own. Many warriors have met their untimely defeat and/or demise at the hands of more skillful opponents simply because they have not taken the time to “think honestly”, and have let pride or some other uncontrolled emotion blind them to reality.

This is interesting because the Bible (especially the New Testament) always refers to sin as being caught in the “powers of darkness.”

I would think it a powerful metaphor to use “darkness” to describe untruth.

Musashi’s fifth precept is related, though a little more specific: “Distinguish between gain and loss in worldly matters.”

This is where things become more interesting.

Again, the simplicity of this statement might make its meaning seem obvious. Humans, as a rule, want gain more than loss. So one would think that humans have a pretty good understanding of what constitutes gain and loss.

Conway explains that apparently, this is not the case at all. What most of us consider “gain” is actually loss, and vice-versa.

One example that he used (which I related to very much), is that of obesity.

Obese people are an example of those people who think in terms of short term gain. They are the kind of people who will eat delicious, unhealthy food now, and worry about the consequences later.

As a person who once reached a maximum weight of over two-hundred pounds at a height of 5”9, I know how it feels to be obese. And I certainly know about having a mindset of an obese person.

I distinctly remember convincing myself that it would be a “waste” not to eat that one last slice of cake, or that one last morsel of meat, or one more scoop of ice cream or some other dessert, or not finishing the rest of the bag of chips.

I have exchanged short term gain (in terms of the pleasure of eating delicious food), for long term loss (in terms of health and back problems due to overweight).

In other words, I have failed Musashi’s fifth precept of being able to distinguish between worldly gain and loss.

But that is not all that I have failed.

The Bible likewise admonishes those who think they have “gained” from living a worldly, self-indulgent life.

The Messiah summed it up in one statement:

And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?

(Luke 9:25 NLT)

It is all a matter of how broad one’s viewpoint is.

The phrase “winning the battle, but losing the war” (attributed to Sun Tzu’s Art of War, though I have not seen it written like that in the translations that I have been reading) is an apt analogy for this.

Gaining short term benefits in exchange for long term failures is unacceptable in war. One must always be ready to make sacrifices for the sake of the greater good.

Losing the war is NOT an option.

And what is the Christian life but a war for your own soul?

Scripture says that God is both beginning and end. This is a way of saying that God sees all of the flow of time. God is above time and therefore timeless.

What kind of wisdom does a person who sees all of the flow of time have? Each and every permutation of causality is laid bare. Both good consequences and bad are revealed: nothing is hidden.

If such a thing were indeed possible, then that person would be in the best position to steer all of creation into the best possible scenario for all time and beyond.

Add to that the qualities Scripture attributes to God: that of being a just, loving and merciful Creator.

What a wonderful thing it would be to see, even for just a moment, through the eyes of God!

I look around me and I see people indulging in their own selfishness: people beating the red light to shave off a few minutes of waiting time, at the risk of getting involved in an accident. I see people splurging whole month’s salaries or allowances on things that have no real and lasting value. I see husbands and wives commit adultery for the sake of a few moments of pleasure to the detriment of their marriage and children. I see companies and corporations risk the health of our planet just to harvest that much more resources to make that bigger a profit.

God looked at the world and saw sheep without a shepherd.

And so He sent one, not just to teach His ways, but to live, die and be reborn as an example of what a person who is one with God can do.

As I finish writing this, I have already witnessed the news footages capturing the destruction in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami that hit the nation of Japan, Musashi’s homeland and now one of the most advanced countries on our planet.

The world will look at this tragedy and say: “Such loss of life and property! What will be the cost of it?”

Will it only be God who will look and ask, as He had countless times before: “What else do I need to do to catch their attention? When will they turn to Me?”

God has all of eternity to wait for humanity’s answer.

As for us? We have only but time.



Is God Random?

Prior to becoming a believer, I had this notion in my head that God was random in some of His acts.

Apparently, I’m not the only one who thinks like this.

I’ve had a chance to cross swords with my friend Mike Cluzel last night during a conversation among friends. It was not deliberate of course. The conversation just naturally went in that direction.

Mike proposed that God uses randomness as a tool. He explained that God, being a good and just God, could not voluntarily inflict pain and suffering on His creations. So He uses a system of randomness to randomly choose which person to inflict pain and suffering upon.

Riding on his thoughts, I tried to visualize for the group what he meant.

Imagine God holding a pair of dice: one with the name of every single human being on the planet, and the other with every single type of suffering. Whenever God decrees that suffering must exist for one reason or another, He throws these two dice, and whosever name comes up on one die is inflicted with the suffering that comes up on the other die.

In a way, it makes sense because this “exonerates” God from the act of inflicting the punishment Himself.

But I told Mike that I had a problem with this thinking.

My Bible tells me that God is not random.

God is the beginning and the end. He created all things and thus knows all things. There is nothing that He cannot know.

I explained to Mike that randomness, by its very nature contradicts God, for if God relies on randomness, it means that God Himself is subordinate to randomness.

And our Bible is very clear that there is nothing greater than God.

I know that I sound like some cocky student recently graduated from a school of apologetics, but hear me out for a little bit.

Speaking on a personal level, I find it unacceptable that my God who requires that I put all of my faith upon Him, has to rely on something arbitrary to determine certain events or outcomes in my life.

It would mean that ALL of my suffering is randomly inflicted, and that they do not serve any other purpose other than for me to suffer, and for God to be free from the responsibility of inflicting that suffering.

It just doesn’t make sense.

Let me try and put it this way.

As a martial artist, I am taught about pain. Pain is important, because it tells us when something is wrong. It tells us if we’re pushing ourselves too hard, or if we got hit with a really devastating blow and would have to either back away, or give up a match.

Pain is useful because it tells us we have reached our limits.

Once the limits have been set, it then gives us an opportunity to try and overcome those limits.

In other words, pain serves a purpose. It is not some random phenomenon that occurs out of the blue.

There is always a reason for pain.

Suffering for me acts the same way. We suffer because God wants us to realize something.

More often than not, He wants us to know that we’ve reached our limits as human beings, and that we should focus on trying to overcome those limits.

I sincerely believe that this is the way of all meaningful growth.

Now this is where it gets a little tricky.

What if God causes another person important to us to suffer? What if God decides to take away that person?

I would imagine that all of us at one point, will experience this.

We would all eventually be faced with the reality that God does take away life.

And then we would be left with the question: WHY?

Why my son? My daughter? My mother? My father? My wife? My husband? My friend?

Why God?

This is where faith comes in.

If we say we believe in a God that can resurrect the dead, and that this same God is good, merciful and loving beyond our comprehension, then we have to take it on faith that God knows what He is doing when He takes a loved one away.

Unfortunately for us, there is absolutely no way we can be sure of this in this lifetime.

God in His wisdom simply decided that it was not for us to know.

Moses recounts the covenantal relationship of God with the Hebrews in the book of Deuteronomy and concludes that:

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law. - (Deuteronomy 29:29 NIV)

We cannot know everything. But there are some things which have been given us to know.

We know that we have a Book which tells us that God exists, and that He is a just, loving, and merciful God.

We know that He has set down rules for us to follow while in this life. We also know that these rules are NOT random or arbitrary, but serve a greater purpose.

We know that the rules are meant for our own good.

If we claim we do NOT know these things, then maybe it’s time for us to go back to this Book and check for ourselves what we do and do not know about God.

Otherwise, we’ll all be roaming around in the dark without a light or compass to tell us which way to go.

And that my dear family and friends is a travesty. Nay, it is a sin.

May God bless you all this weekend!

Donaire did NOT win that fight

I know I’m a few days late and perhaps a few words too much. But I would nevertheless like to provide my insights on the recently celebrated win by my countryman, Nonito “The Flash” Donaire against Mexican fighter Fernando Montiel.

There is absolutely no doubt as to who won the match. The results were as clear as day and as incontrovertible as any Biblical Truth.

But the winner in my humble opinion is not Donaire.

Now before you condemn and stone me for my unpatriotic statement, hear me out first.

There is no doubt in my mind that Donaire is a brilliant and gifted fighter. I have not watched him fight as much as I did Pacquiao, but just by watching his fight against Montiel, anyone with an eye for truth can see that “The Flash” is a name well earned.

But I can say the same for Fernando Montiel. He is as fast, as quick and as powerful as Donaire. And looking at the pre-fight promotional videos, it seems that Montiel is the more dangerous fighter: with more devastating knockouts.

Certainly, the records would show experience favoring Montiel. He has fought almost twice as many matches and has almost twice as much wins by KO.

Any Filipino sigurista would tell you that the odds are certainly against the “Flash”.

But again, like many times in the past, appearances will prove deceiving.

In a win that has become an instant national phenomenon, The Flash destroyed Montiel with an accurate left hook to the top of the latter’s head. Montiel’s reactions after he fell to the canvass is testament to the strength of that blow. There was no fighting after that one, regardless of what the referee thought.

So did Donaire KO Montiel? Without a doubt.

But did Donaire win that fight?

Here I humbly beg to differ.

It would be the same as saying that David won against Goliath.

It would be the same as saying that the Exodus-age Hebrews won against the Giants of the Promised Land.

No, it was not Donaire that won that fight.

It was God.

It was He that brought about the conditions for victory.

Donaire threw that left hook no differently than any other that he threw in that match. He threw it with the same speed, power and determination to win. The only difference between the earlier left hooks and the one that scored the knockout was the timing.

And any athlete would tell you that while timing is everything, it is the one thing that is most elusive to attain.

You can train for it of course. But in a middle of something so fluid and unpredictable as a real-life boxing match, the right timing becomes nearly impossible to predict.

Ask Donaire if he knew, pre-fight, that that hook would be the one to end the fight.

If he knew that the fight would have ended on the second round and in that precise moment, then he would not have trained as hard as he did for that fight.

For the Day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. Not even The Son knows when that Day will arrive.

And that fight, dear family and friends, was the Day of the Lord.

He won that fight.

He deserves all the glory.

Let us honor and praise Him for granting our countryman Nonito Donaire a spectacular win against uneven odds.

All of Heaven waits with bated breath at what “The Flash” and the rest of the Philippines will do with that win.