A Dental Encounter

There is nothing more humbling to me than to be put in a situation where I have no control whatsoever.

And with that humility comes a need for a Savior.

Yesterday, we took our daughter Ahlana to the dentist to have several of her teeth removed. It was the first time our daughter would have a dental extraction, let alone have several at the same time. Aside from the extractions, she would also have several teeth fillings.

The procedure, along with our daughter’s age, required that she be put under sedation.

Needless to say, that as a concerned parent, I had more than a passing worry about the whole thing.

What if things go wrong? What if something happens to my daughter? What if we end up losing her during the process?

Those of you who are parents could perhaps understand and excuse my pessimism. We have only one daughter after all.

I cannot tell you how much I hate not being in control. I was raised by my family to be a man in charge and independent. I was made to realize that in this world, you cannot really trust anyone to do anything right, and that the most qualified person to do anything for myself was myself. There was no one else to help myself other than myself, and I had no one else to blame if something goes wrong, other than myself.

My family had their reasons for raising me this way. Conditions within Philippine society are such that it pays to be self-reliant.

But this upbringing did come with a price. And that price was that I found it hard to ever completely trust anyone. That and the fact that I hated not being in control of anything.

So when my wife and I were talking to the chief pediatric dentist and her anesthesiologist prior to the procedure, the foremost thought running through my mind was: “Can I really trust these people to do what is best for my daughter?”

The answer of course was that I can’t. Their waiver, which I had to sign prior to the procedure, said as much. There were too many unseen variables. Too many possibilities that things could go wrong.

It was a grim and sobering reminder that no matter how much we fool ourselves into thinking otherwise, the cold and hard fact is that we are not really fully in control of anything in our lives.

In a world where anything could go wrong, doubt is the quintessential posture that one adapts to.

And doubt was what gnawed at my soul the moment my wife and I gave the go ahead for the procedure. And like a ghastly bride accompanying her undead bridegroom, that doubt came with the cold touch of fear: the fear that something indeed might go wrong.

My daughter is old enough to realize that this was going to be an uncomfortable experience for her. She clung to her mother instinctively the moment the nurses came for her. The anesthesiologist tried to speak soothing words to her even as he hid the needle and syringe containing the sedative behind his back.

I tried my best to brace myself for what was to come. But as any parent would know, you can never truly prepare yourself to see your child in pain.

Hearing my daughter scream and cry as the needle plunged into her little arm was hard enough. But seeing her slowly go limp as the sedative did its work was beyond anything I’ve experienced before. I personally had to carry her to the dentist’s chair where the nurses strapped her in. I tried to speak words of comfort to her as I carried her. But instead of hugging me as she usually would, she just lay there limp in my arms, her dazed eyes looking up at me with her mouth half open. I had never seen her in this state before.

It was an incredible struggle fighting off the urge to just run out of there with my daughter. I fought desperately to keep my tears in check as the nurses calmly told me to leave the room.

It was at this moment that I realized why I needed God in my life.

When your loved one’s fate lay outside of your own hands, to whom do you put your trust in a world where nothing is ever certain?

My wife and I had been so agitated by the experience of seeing our daughter be put under sedation for the first time that we both had to go back to our car. There, we let ourselves go and cried to God to protect our daughter during the procedure. It was a trial of faith like none other we have experienced so far.

I would be a hypocrite if I said I believed in God and yet did not acknowledge His Sovereign Will over everything. He wouldn’t be God otherwise. And it was this Sovereign Will that I appealed to with prayer: that He would allow no harm to come to my daughter, and that the very same God who blessed us with her, would not choose to take her away at this moment.

Through the turbulence and swirling storm of my soul, His voice spoke in answer to my pleas:

Would you still love Me if I took away your daughter?

My thoughts were then filled with the image of the crucified Christ, hanging bloodied and dying, offering everything He had for love of His Father and of mankind.

God gave His one and only son for us. Could I do the same?

I realized that I could not.

In that moment, even as my heart was breaking with worry over my daughter, I acknowledged God for who He really is.

He alone is God. There is none like Him. There is no other Force who keeps the universe from falling into random chaos; no other Being who purposefully creates and destroys, and puts everything back together again.

If I couldn’t trust Him, then who can I trust?

“Let Your Will be done Lord. I will trust in You no matter what.” I prayed as my heart bowed down in worship.

And even as I continued to cry, my soul settled within me. It had found its solid ground.

My daughter is back to her old bubbly self again, sans four teeth of course, and with a few tooth fillings added in as a result of the experience.

As for myself, I too walked away from this dental encounter with a filling of my own: A God-sized one filling that hole within my soul that only He could fill.

To Him be all the Glory.

PS. Our thanks go out to all our relatives and friends who prayed with us over our daughter. May His Glory fill your lives as well!

A Hope Everlasting

I would like to open with another of life’s toughest questions:

What are we living our lives for?

Every day, I chance upon the faces of the multitudes going to and from work as I commute, and wonder what dreams, hopes and aspirations they have in life that they would endure the daily grind of the rat race.

Do they even have any hopes at all?

I sincerely believe that life is not possible without hope.

There must be something to be yearned for; some aspiration that sustains life at its dreariest and provides the impetus for growth.

Otherwise, what would be the meaning of it all, apart from merely eking out a living to bring food on the table?

If we were meant to live only to feed ourselves, then human civilization could have remained perfectly satisfied living in a subsistence economy that produces just enough for our nutritional needs.

Our history has shown us otherwise however, and thus proves the adage of Scripture:

Man does not live on bread alone.

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I have thought long and hard about the hopes that men have, and how they’ve fared in sustaining humanity in our journey through life.

I thought first about materialism and the desire for the accumulation of material wealth.

This would be the most obvious since we live in a material world.

There is no doubt that we need the material in order to survive. If work requires energy, then energy requires mass, as Albert Einstein postulated in his famous formula, E=mc², where “m” stands for mass (i.e. the material).

For us therefore, life is not possible without the material.

Is it not therefore, a legitimate hope to aspire for material wealth?

But then here is the catch: the material is impermanent.

I cannot tell you how difficult it was for me to accept that truth.

I had believed, as many others do (consciously or unconsciously), that the material represents the real. The “real world” as our knowledge and sciences would have it, consists of the material. Anything that is immaterial cannot be observed or studied, and therefore, does not exist. It is by the real and material that we base our lives upon.

It came as a shock therefore, to realize that all matter ultimately collapses into nothing.

Don’t believe me? Then try to look up the word “entropy” and the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

The physical universe is slowly but surely decaying. Our sciences confirm it. Nothing in the physical world is permanent.

Now let us look at the implications of this for those who hope and long for the material.

If the accumulation of material wealth is all you hope and work for in this life, then does it not bother you that all of what you worked for will ultimately and literally come to nothing?

When the disciples went with the Messiah to see the temple in Jerusalem, they marveled and wondered at the massive structure, thinking to themselves: “Ah, what a majestic structure! Look at these great stones that form its foundations! Surely, this temple will last forever!”

The Messiah answered them:

"As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down."

(Luke 21:6 NIV)

If the physical temple of God was not exempt from entropy, what more our own material wealth?

Our own physical bodies, being themselves material, are also subject to death and decay. Of what use will accumulated wealth be to us then?

In His parable of the rich fool, the Messiah describes how a rich man hoarded for himself the fruits of his labor. Thinking to live out the rest of his life in ease and luxury, the rich man sought to build bigger storehouses for his grain.

"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'

(Luke 12:20 NIV)

If all our work and toil is to amass wealth that will ultimately come to nothing, then to hope for the material is nothing less than a delusion.

Materialism therefore, is self-defeating. It is a false hope.

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Then I thought about a second hope that man has: the rise and ascension to power.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines power as “the ability to do something or act in a particular way.”

A further definition by Merriam-Webster lists power as “possession of control, authority, or influence over others.”

By these definitions, humans are already born with some measure of power. Even a new-born baby for example, has the power to influence its parents for a bottle of milk when it cries.

This power increases accordingly as an individual grows and develops.

It is considered natural for humans to crave for more power, as it provides us with a sense of security and identity within our societies.

So we work for promotions, certifications and recognitions, study for diplomas, degrees and doctorates, and run for political offices and other positions of leadership and influence.

But do any of these truly provide us with a lasting sense of security?

If we work and compete our way to the top of our respective careers, will it be truly worth all the effort?

Human history is replete with men who have been considered the most powerful of their time: great Kings and Emperors wielding power over many peoples and nations. Were any of them truly happy with what they had?

Or did their pursuit of power only result in an insatiable hunger for more, thus dooming themselves to a life of emptiness?

Again, our history shows us that power is not permanent. Kingdoms and Empires rise and fall. Kings and Emperors die and fade into memory.

Power ultimately fails.

And so people living for the pursuit of power find themselves in a similar situation as those who live for material wealth: they are setting themselves up for a great and terrible loss.

Power, like wealth, is illusory and fleeting.

The ambition for power therefore, is also a false hope.

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Finally, I thought about the hope of getting the most pleasure out of life.

After being told that nothing is permanent, I believe it is only natural for a man to resort to hedonism. (I know I certainly did, at one point in my life.)

Life is about getting the most pleasurable experience out of everything. (By “pleasure”, I mean sensual pleasure that is derived from the physical senses of touch, sight, hearing, smelling, and taste.)

“If it feels good, then it must be right. After all, we’ll all end up being dead anyway.” So the sensual hedonist would say.

The Greek philosopher Epicurus came to a similar conclusion when he founded the Epicurean school of thought.

Death is the end of all things. Therefore, what matters is to attain pleasure in this life before the end.

Oh the price men would pay to gain a moment’s pleasure!

We only need look at commercial advertising to see that men are easily lured by the promises of the sensual.

Living a life in pursuit of pleasure however, can only culminate in pain. I have found this to be true on many levels.

A man who lives to eat and drink will eventually have to face the pain of countless medical conditions that such a lifestyle produces. The same goes for a man who lives for sexual pleasure.

And since we already established that all material things ultimately fade into nothing, finding pleasure solely in material things also inevitably end in the pain of loss.

I simply cannot imagine myself lying on my deathbed, knowing that I’ve lived a life dedicated to the pursuit of pleasure, only to realize that I’m ending it in pain.

The prophet Isaiah, seeing the wanton sensuality of his people during his time, wrote down these words:

But see, there is joy and revelry, slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine! "Let us eat and drink," you say, "for tomorrow we die!" The LORD Almighty has revealed this in my hearing: "Till your dying day this sin will not be atoned for," says the Lord, the LORD Almighty.
(Isaiah 22:13-14 NIV)

To live a life of pleasure only to end it in pain is both a tragedy and a travesty.

Sensual hedonism therefore, like materialism and the pursuit of power, is self-defeating.

It is yet another one of life’s false hopes.

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Scripture records the thoughts of King Solomon, reputedly the wisest, most powerful, and materially the richest king of Israel:

I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well—the delights of the heart of man. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.

(Ecclesiastes 2:8-11 NIV)

Here was a man who virtually attained everything that the world has to offer: wealth, power and sensual pleasure. And what does he have to say about it?

Nothing was gained under the sun.

The warning therefore is as clear as day: materialism, ambition for power and sensual hedonism are false and empty hopes.

Then why in Heaven’s name does humanity still cling to such hopes? Why do peoples, countries and nations continually aspire to these things?

In my personal case, the answer was so simple and obvious, it borders on the absurd:

It was because I didn’t know any better.

I suspect that many others would answer the same way.

If this is the case, then what hope is there for the ignorance of humankind? Is there something or someone who does know what is truly best for us? Someone who can provide us with a true and lasting hope?

My answer to that is an emphatic yes!

His Name is Jesus Christ, the Messiah, whose very name means “salvation from God”.

And His story is available to us through the accounts written in the book known as the Bible.

All we need do is to share His story to all humankind. For no one knows better how life works best, than the Author of Life Himself.

And we can trust in Him to know and understand about life’s false hopes, because He Himself had been tempted with the exact same false hopes prior to His ministry here on earth.

He had been tempted to depend on the material when Satan told Him to turn rocks into bread.

He had been tempted to rely on power when the Enemy told Him to publicly jump off a tall building, and command the angels to rescue Him to display His authority and power over the Heavenly Hosts.

And finally, He had been tempted with all of the pleasures of the world when Satan showed Him all that this world has to offer, in exchange for His subservience to evil.

The Messiah’s answer to all three temptations had been consistent with His teachings and the way He lived His life on this earth:

There is a God to whom we are all answerable to. It is in Him we should place our hopes.

His testimony was sealed by His suffering and death on the cross at Calvary: an event He could have easily avoided or run away from, yet deliberately chose to subject Himself to, in order to show the strength and completeness of His conviction and hope.

His choice to be subjected to the humiliation and suffering of the cross was proven justified by His resurrection, proving that not even death can destroy His hope, the very same hope that He offers for humankind:

"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12 NIV)

Here then is real hope. Hope that will not fade nor fail us. It is the hope for the eternal.

And the eternal is God Himself.

As I go through the daily grind, I wade into the teeming masses who push, shove and jostle themselves to be ahead of the race.

Some of them do it for material wealth. Some of them do it for power and recognition. Some do it, in the hopes of attaining some measure of worldly pleasure at the end of it all.

What are we living our life for?

Have we placed our hopes on that which is fleeting and perishing?

Or have we set our eyes on the infinite?

It is my fervent prayer that we will all allow the Messiah to tear the veil of false hopes that this world has laid over our eyes, and allow us to see the face of the Holiest of Holies, the Lord of the Heavenly Hosts, and the one true source of hope everlasting.

May His name be glorified forever.

Soli Deo Gloria.

Confessions of a Christian Geek

I am a sucker for technology.

I am always on the lookout for the latest gadget representing the bleeding edge of human technology. The one that will max out the credit cards, crash the bank accounts, and declare war upon the spouse.

My life used to be about the next big upgrade. That was before I met Christ.

Today, I am still a sucker for technology. I still look at the latest gadgets and gizmos. I’m still tempted by the never ending barrage of upgrade options that the world’s leading manufacturers produce.

But to live out my life for these things? My Lord says that’s idolatry. That’s breaking the first and second of the Ten Commandments, constituting the highest and gravest of spiritual offenses. An “abomination that causes desecration.”

It is a struggle to fight off the temptation to buy into the latest technology. It is a struggle I face everyday, what with the proliferation of advertising on every conceivable form of media available.

The rate and intensity of the advertising increases in direct proportion to the rate in which manufacturers churn out these gadgets. Which means that the struggle won’t become any easier.

It is a battle for life. A Battle Worth Fighting.

Before I knew Christ, I once kidded to my friends that for me, Tech is porn. I still think that’s true.

Technology has become a fetish. For some, life is just not worth living without them. I know this because I used to be one of them.

Recently, I’ve been affected once again by the upgrade bug.

We lost our Sony Handycam in an event at the SMX Convention Center about two weekends ago. It was stolen within moments of our arrival, after we left it unattended together with our Sony Cybershot camera for a scant few minutes. The thief left the Cybershot, obviously preferring the larger (and more expensive) Handycam.

The theft was a sore blow. It had been our first Handycam: one that my wife and I brought together. It recorded a lot of our family’s memories. Essential memories. Videos of our baby daughter. Videos of our life during my first diplomatic assignment in Vientiane, Laos. Videos of friends and events that we will most probably never see or experience again in this lifetime. Although we thankfully have those videos on a backup external hard drive, it still feels like we lost a dear member of our family.

It took many prayers and many sleepless nights before I could get over the loss.

That and the prospect of an upgrade.

For the past week, I’ve been eyeing the latest Sony Alpha series of Single Lens-Translucent (SLT) Cameras, representing the current pinnacle of technology from that company (of which I have an obvious bias).

One specific model caught my attention: the Sony Alpha SLT-77, a semi-pro/enthusiast level camera that can shoot both still pictures and video in the highest resolutions currently possible. It is a gadget worthy of any geek’s fantasy.

I also thought the model number fortuitous. Seven after all, is God’s number.

The more I looked at the camera’s features, the more I got obsessed with it. I began calculating in my mind how much I needed in order to purchase it.

The obsession initially began as an infatuation. I had browsed the internet to check for pricing and availability and found out that it had yet to be released. Last week, I had asked a local Sony store about it, expecting them not to have any news on its release (the Philippines is not exactly a regular recipient of leading edge technology, especially those not targeted for the mass consumer).

To my surprise, not only did they tell me that it was due for release in the Philippines later this year, they were also expecting to sell it at a price that was essentially the same online (electronics in the Philippines tend to be priced significantly higher than elsewhere).

That information pushed me to the edge of sin. I committed in my heart that I would buy the camera without my wife knowing about it. I would use my credit card to pay for it. Never mind that it would take twelve months and a significant portion of my salary to pay for it.

I wanted the camera. I needed the camera. More than anything. It became the focus of my life: the reason for my happiness. My raison d’etre: the reason for my existence.

My old self had come back full force.

And boy was it ugly.

My obsession distracted me from the things that should matter. My family. My work. My relationship with my wife. My relationship with my daughter. My relationship with God.

My wife saw my obsession and responded as any wife should if she had caught her husband in adultery: she fought for my attention.

And I reacted as any husband caught in an adulterous relationship: first in angry denial, and then in vehement resistance.

I could not believe the words that had come out of my mouth that night. It felt like somebody else spoke those words for me. I saw my wife’s tears as those words stung and cut her.

Its just a friggin’ camera! I screamed to myself.

But deep inside, something told me it had become something more than that. It had become something unholy. Something that is placed where it shouldn’t be, and thus intensely destructive.

An abomination that causes desecration.

The enemy took my obsession with the camera and turned it into a weapon of sin. A weapon meant to distract me from the things I should be concerned about in my life. A weapon meant to hurt the ones that I loved.

I realized later that it was not only my wife who I hurt and made cry during those agonizing moments of confrontation. God cried too. The bloodied face of my Redeemer stared at me as He hung silently on the Cross at Calvary.

All for a piece of worldly technology. Something that will not last. Something that will certainly and inevitably lose its value later on as the next big and latest gadget comes by.

Its not worth it. Not worth the price of eternity.

It was then that I resolved that I would surrender my obsession to God.

I would only get the camera together with my wife, and more importantly, together with my God.

No longer will I buy things behind their backs.

I would earn the money I would use to pay for it.

So I began selling off some of the old gadgets that I had. Not only that, whatever proceeds I got from those sales, I immediately tithed for God. The rest, I kept, but not without my wife knowing exactly how much I had.

No more secrets.

I will set my relationships right once more.

And do you know what happened next?

In response to my obedience, God showed me the most wonderful revelation.

He showed me His version of the perfect gadget.

That gadget is me.

A human being. Formed and fashioned in the heavenly realms. Hand-crafted by God Himself, and powered by His own Divine Spirit.

What does your camera say to that? His words echoed through my mind, heart and spirit.

Tears streamed from my face as the realization of it hit me full force. It was too wonderful for words.

And the best part of it is this:

God is not even finished with me yet!

He is constantly upgrading. Constantly transforming. Constantly changing me from the inside out so that I would reflect the original and perfect design He has for me in His head.

He is doing it, not just to me, but to every human being who comes to Him.

And when His final version rolls out…

I finish this entry with the words from the first epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians:

However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"—

(1 Corinthians 2:9 NIV)

I suspect that even now, somebody in Heaven has yet to tap Steve Jobs on the shoulder and kindly tell him that his jaw is still open.

That I suppose, is the best compliment a geek could ever have for his Maker.

May God’s mercy and blessings be upon you all.

Soli Deo Gloria!

The Sword with No Blade

There once was a swordsman who became famous all throughout the land for his skill with the blade.

He received many challenges from other swordsmen, and he won them all. His opponents, skilled though they were, were no match for the speed, power and accuracy of his blade. Some of his challengers were maimed or seriously injured after dueling with him. Many were killed outright.

The more duels the swordsman fought, the stronger he became. His strokes with the sword became lesser and fewer, until his skill was such that his every strike became a killing blow. Many of his opponents died from a single sweep of his sword. He became known far and wide as the ‘unbeatable swordsman’.

The unbeatable swordsman became proud of his skill. And when the other swordsmen stopped challenging him, he began challenging others himself.

Fear swept across all the land, for the unbeatable swordsman challenged anyone he saw to a duel.

The swordsman relished the power accorded to him by his skill with the blade. He began to bully the people who refused to fight him, calling them cowards. He concluded that cowards served no better purpose than to serve the strong. And since none could match him with the blade, he expected everyone to serve him. And so he made the people do his bidding everywhere he went.

Not long after however, word began to spread that another swordsman had wandered into the land. Like the unbeatable swordsman, this swordsman too won all his fights. Unlike the unbeatable swordsman however, people were talking about this swordsman not with fear, but with awe and reverence. And the strangest thing was, none of his opponents died from dueling with him.

All who knew and heard about this swordsman said one thing in common:

“He carries a sword with no blade.”

When news of this reached the unbeatable swordsman, he laughed condescendingly at the people.

“You are being foolish! You are making this story up just to scare me! How can a swordsman win his fights with a sword with no blade?”

But news and rumors about the other swordsman persisted. Soon, not a single inhabitant of the land has not heard about the swordsman with the sword with no blade.

The unbeatable swordsman became irritated and jealous at all the attention the other swordsman was getting. He began challenging more and more people to a duel, hoping that the people will spread his stories and talk about him more. And though news of his bullying did indeed spread, the people never stopped talking about the swordsman with the sword with no blade.

Finally, the unbeatable swordsman decided he had heard enough. He would look for this swordsman with the bladeless sword and challenge him himself.

“I will defeat this swordsman, and then the people shall revere and fear me once more.” He concluded.

And so the unbeatable swordsman wandered all throughout the land searching for the swordsman with the sword with no blade.

His searched for days. He searched for months. He searched for years. And though he heard the same stories everywhere he went, he could not find the swordsman with the bladeless sword.

The longer he searched, the angrier and more obsessed the unbeatable swordsman became. Finally, he exclaimed to all whom he met:

“I shall never again draw my sword unless it is to defeat the man who carries around the sword with no blade!”

Because the unbeatable swordsman stopped challenging people to duels, the inhabitants of the land became less and less afraid. They no longer hid for fear of being challenged by him. Farmers began tilling the land, and the shopkeepers began to sell their wares. Soon the land became peaceful and prosperous once more.

The unbeatable swordsman however, did not relent in his search. Everywhere he went, he was greeted by the people:

“Have you found what you were looking for?”

At first he answered them with a haughty “that’s none of your business!”

But the unbeatable swordsman became quiet the longer his search continued, and he later began answering the people’s questions with just a silent shaking of his head.

He also became gaunt and thin from all his searching, that when the inhabitants of the land saw him, they began to take pity upon him.

In each town that he went, the children would run up to him and greet him, then shout to the rest of the town:

“The unbeatable swordsman is here!”

The whole town would come out and give him food and drink and share stories with him. When they asked about his search, the unbeatable swordsman’s reply was always the same: he bowed silently and shook his head.

After decades of searching, the unbeatable swordsman began to lose hope that he would ever find the swordsman with the bladeless sword. He grew more somber and forlorn the more his hope faded, and soon ceased to speak at all unless it was to ask:

“Have you seen the swordsman with the sword with no blade?”

Then one day, the unbeatable swordsman came upon a very poor town. Unlike the other towns, no children ran up to greet him. The inhabitants of the town seemed downcast, their women quietly sobbing and moaning in despair. Even the animals and the trees of the town looked to be in mourning.

For the first time since his search, the unbeatable swordsman asked a different question of the people:

“What has happened here?”

“The land is under a curse!” the people wailed. “Our wells have dried up, and now there is no water. We cannot till the land to grow the things we need to live. Our children have all died from hunger and thirst.”

“Have you tried digging deeper into the ground for water?” the unbeatable swordsman asked.

“None of us are strong enough,” the people replied. “Our men have all grown weak from lack of food and water.”

“But that’s no excuse!” the unbeatable swordsman replied angrily. “If you don’t dig for water, you will all die! Why don’t you all work together to dig a deeper well?”

 “We are afraid that we will lose what little we have in the effort to dig the well,” the people answered forlornly. “We cannot afford to share what little strength we have for others because we need it to first help ourselves. Besides, we are afraid that once the well has been dug, the people will start killing each other to be the first to draw water from it.”

The unbeatable swordsman was exasperated. “You selfish people! Because of your selfishness, you will all die a slow and terrible death from hunger and weakness!”

And the people bowed down their heads in shame.

But then they asked: “Maybe you could help us? You look strong and skilled with the blade. You could help us dig the well and then keep the order with your sword after the well has been dug.”

The unbeatable swordsman thought long and hard about it. Then he answered them in angry resignation:

“Okay, I will help you.”

So the unbeatable swordsman helped the people dig a new well. They spent weeks digging deep into the ground for water, for the land had become hard and unyielding.

When they finally reached water, the people immediately were thrown into chaos. Everyone wanted to be the first to draw water from the well.

But as he promised, the unbeatable swordsman kept all the people at bay with his sword.

“Stop! Stand Back! We will do this in an orderly manner! The elderly shall go first, followed by the women! The strongest among you will draw the water from the well for them and help bring the water back to their houses!”

After everyone had drawn water from the well, the unbeatable swordsman then supervised the men to dig irrigation trenches so that the water could seep into the fields. Anytime that a man refused to work, the unbeatable swordsman would scold and threaten him, saying:

“If you don’t work like everyone else, you will not share in the harvest afterwards!”

And so the unbeatable swordsman kept the order and made all the people help each other.

After months of hard work, all the fields of the town became irrigated and were soon able to grow food. The first harvest was so bountiful, that not only was the whole town fed, they had enough surplus to share and trade with the other neighboring towns as well.

As for the unbeatable swordsman, he stayed in the town to keep the peace and order. He kept the town safe from bandits and robbers, and he settled disputes among the town’s inhabitants. The people all came to him for protection and advice whenever they faced any problems. Even the leaders of the neighboring towns came to him to seek his counsel.

News of the unbeatable swordsman’s deeds spread and he became famous for his leadership.

As the town prospered and grew, the unbeatable swordsman grew older and wiser. He continued to govern the town well although he remained harsh and strict in his leadership.

Then one day, as the unbeatable swordsman was walking along the edge of the town after inspecting the fields for the next harvest, he came across a young man.

The unbeatable swordsman peered at the young man through his old eyes, and recognized in the way that the young man stood that he was a skilled swordsman. The unbeatable swordsman’s old muscles tensed and his knotted fingers grasped the hilt of his sword.

“Who are you? What do you want?” he asked of the young man standing in front of him.

“Are you the one looking for the swordsman with the sword with no blade?” the young man replied.

The unbeatable swordsman’s heart leapt. He had almost completely forgotten about his search.

“Yes, I am. Though I have not searched for him for many years.” he answered back.

“I am he,” the young man spoke. “And I challenge you to a duel.”

The unbeatable swordsman’s heart almost stopped at the young man’s words. But he soon regained his composure and laughed at the young man.

“I have searched for the swordsman with the sword with no blade for many decades before coming to this town. Surely he must be as old as I am now. Therefore you cannot be that man.”

In response, the young man drew out his sword. And lo! No blade protruded from the sword’s hilt!

The unbeatable swordsman was taken aback at the sight.

“Where did you get that?” he asked quietly.

“Accept my challenge, and you shall find out,” the young man replied.

 The unbeatable swordsman’s old pride re-awakened inside of him, and he angrily drew out his own sword. Memories of his long and vain search haunted him, and he clutched the hilt of his sword with renewed strength.

“I don’t know who you are or what you hope to accomplish. But you are foolish to fight me with a sword with no blade.” the unbeatable swordsman hissed with the same quiet menace in which he used to issue challenges before.

But the young man holding the sword with no blade was unfazed.

“You come at me with your sword. I come at you in the name of my God.” the young man answered calmly.

Once again, the undefeated swordsman was taken aback with surprise.

“Your God?” he asked mockingly. “There is no God! In this world, only those with strength rule! Without men like me to govern them, the people will all kill each other! Besides, how can your God help you when he cannot even provide you with a decent sword?”

“I have a sword.” the young man answered calmly, raising the sword with no blade.

The unbeatable swordsman grew exasperated. “But your sword does not even have a blade! How can you defeat someone unless you have a blade to cut them with?!”

“My God will provide the blade.” replied the young man. “And I WILL cut and defeat you.”

For the third time, the unbeatable swordsman was taken aback.

He looked carefully at the young man. His veteran eyes surveyed the young man’s steady stance and the calm way in which he grasped his sword. His swordsman’s instincts told him that this was a very skilled opponent: probably the most skilled he has ever faced.

Most of all however, the unbeatable swordsman was drawn to the young man’s eyes. They were clear and bright as they looked back at him intently. It was as if a fire was lit behind them.

The unbeatable swordsman grew unsettled with the way those eyes looked at him. They seemed to pierce his skin and look deep inside of him. They seemed to be searching for something. The unbeatable swordsman felt that he could not hide anything from those searching eyes. For the first time in his life, the unbeatable swordsman became afraid.

“What are you looking at!” he blurted. “Are you afraid of me? Are you afraid that I will kill you?!”

“No, I am not afraid of you.” the young man answered. “I am looking for that part of you which is most vulnerable. It is this part which I will cut with my sword.”

The unbeatable swordsman grew even more afraid. He swung his sword menacingly at the young man.

“Don’t make me laugh!” he screamed hysterically. “I can kill you anytime I want to, boy! No one has ever defeated me in a duel! I will cut you and you will die! Are you not afraid to die?”

The young man’s unflinching eyes continued to look at him intently.

“I am afraid to die.” he admitted. “But that will not stop me from cutting and defeating you.”

The unbeatable swordsman had had enough. With a wild scream he lunged at the young man. His sword whistled in the air, singing its deadly song.

It hit the young man’s side with full and deadly force. The unbeatable swordsman immediately knew that it was a killing blow.

Time seemed to stand still for a moment. And then all at once, a red spray burst forth from out of the fatal wound, covering the unbeatable swordsman with the young man’s blood.

The unbeatable swordsman cried out in horror. His mind shrank at the realization of what he had done.

“I have cut down an innocent man!” his thoughts screamed.

The unbeatable swordsman’s sword fell down to the ground with a clatter as he fell to his knees. He began to shake and weep uncontrollably. He covered his bloody face with equally bloodied hands, afraid to turn around and see the handiwork of his blade.

But lo! From behind him came the calm voice of the young man:

“I have found that part of you which is most vulnerable.”

The undefeated swordsman’s eyes grew wide at the sound of the young man’s voice. Slowly he turned around to face the source of that voice.

His gaze fell upon the young man’s radiant face. His eyes were full of triumph.

“And I have cut you with the blade my God has given me. You are beaten!”

The unbeatable swordsman watched in horror as the young man began to fall. He caught him just before the young man’s body hit the ground.

The young man’s eyes continued to look at the unbeatable swordsman with their piercing gaze.

The young man then laid the sword with no blade on the unbeatable swordsman’s hand. “You are now worthy to carry the sword of my God.” the young man whispered to him. “Use it well.”

“I do not understand!” cried the unbeatable swordsman.

“You have shown my God that you still have a soul,” the young man replied quietly. “Now use the sword my God has given you to search for the souls of others.”

And with that the young man died.

The undefeated swordsman cried over the body of the young man for many days. Then he buried him in a grave which he dug with his bare hands.

Afterwards, he carried the sword with no blade back into his town. There he continued to govern the people. But instead of fear, the people grew to love and cherish him, for he governed them with mercy and compassion as well as with wisdom and justice all the rest of his days.

The people of his town and the leaders of the neighboring towns all began to follow his example and treated each other with dignity, respect and compassion.

When the unbeatable swordsman finally died, the people found him lying on his bed holding the sword with no blade upon his chest. A look of infinite peace was upon his face.

The people mourned for him a long time. Then they buried him among the elders of the town and put up the sword with no blade on his grave as a marker. And many people came from far and wide to see it.

There it still stands to this day, seemingly waiting for its next wielder.

Perhaps you too have come across the sword with no blade in your travels in the land.

It looks something like this:

Judgment Day

(Author's Note: I began this blog entry sometime before we left Vientiane for the Philippines. Due to the business of my schedule, I only managed to finish it now. It was meant as a response to the May 21 (now turned October 21) prediction of a well-known American preacher for Judgement Day. I hope that it retains its relevance in these times.)

"The day of judgment is here; your destruction awaits! The people's wickedness and pride have blossomed to full flower. Their violence has grown into a rod that will beat them for their wickedness. None of these proud and wicked people will survive. All their wealth and prestige will be swept away. Yes, the time has come; the day is here! Buyers should not rejoice over bargains, nor sellers grieve over losses, for all of them will fall under My terrible anger. Even if the merchants survive, they will never return to their business. For what God has said applies to everyone—it will not be changed! Not one person whose life is twisted by sin will ever recover.

(Ezekiel 7:10-13 NLT)

I have forgotten how many times I have heard people predict the arrival of Judgment Day (and be proven wrong afterwards).

It seems there are a lot of people who relish in the idea that they can predict the doom of humankind.

I am no exception to this.

After all, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that by the way humankind has been mismanaging the earth, there will come a day wherein the earth itself will break beyond recovery, and humankind would indeed reap the harvest of our actions.

Science calls it causality.

Scripture describes it as reaping what we sow.

As the Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians:

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

(Galatians 6:7-8 NIV)

There is no doubt in my mind that there will be a time of reckoning for our actions on this earth.

It’s just that scripture tells us that nobody knows when that time will be.

Even the Messiah said that He Himself does not know:

"However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son Himself. Only the Father knows. - (Matthew 24:36 NLT)

Only the Father knows.

Scripture is full of references to the arrival of the Day of Judgment.  Bible scholars have even founded a separate branch of theology that focuses on the study of the End Times. (They call it eschatology.)

But although Scripture is generally consistent in pointing towards the coming of the End Times, it almost always qualifies those predictions by saying that the exact day and hour of Judgment Day is unknown.

It is important for us to realize this, because it helps us to identify false prophets who claim to know the exact time and date.

As Scripture notes:

And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. - (Matthew 24:11 NLT)

And:

Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. - (1 John 4:1 NLT)

That there will be people who will claim that they know the exact date of Judgment Day is therefore to be expected.

This brings about another dilemma.

The presence of these false prophets will inevitably cause many to fall from the faith.

This too was predicted by the Messiah:

Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. - (Matthew 24:12 NLT)

The more false prophets come; claiming to be messengers from God, the more the faith of the people will be tested. Many will be lured into believing them, as the Messiah predicted, and many will be sorely disappointed when their promises prove false and will end up falling from the faith. They will add to the number of the skeptics and will end up as haters and mockers of those still faithful.

"Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are My followers. And many will turn away from Me and betray and hate each other. - (Matthew 24:9-10 NLT)

It will truly be a dark day when the way of peace and love will be completely rejected by the worldly.

But we have been warned ahead of time by the Messiah Himself:

"I have told you these things so that you won't abandon your faith. - (John 16:1 NLT)

I know that it is not my place to remind everyone who believes to be steadfast in the faith. This trial of faith is for all of us to bear, and each trial will be unique as each one of us is unique.

I look at myself and ask: how strong is my faith in the Living God? Will I remain steadfast in the presence of the most severe trials?

My worst nightmares now consist of visions of what trials I would have to face to have my faith tested.

Would I be faithful enough like Job not to fall away when all that I have is taken from me?

Would I be strong enough like Abraham when the lives of my loved ones are put on the line?

Would I be steadfast like the Prophets and the Apostles when my own body is tortured and mutilated for sharing the Gospel of Truth?

Lest I fall into the same trap as Simon Peter and the Sons of Thunder and boast that I would die for my Lord, I would like to be perfectly honest and say that I don’t think my faith is strong enough for trials like these.

I suspect that many among the faithful share this same dilemma.

So should we just abandon my faith now even before these trials ever come to pass?

Should I just toss away my Bible and renounce my love for the Living God?

But to echo the words of Simon Peter: “To whom shall I go Lord?”

If I do not follow the path of peace and love, where then shall I end up going?

Shall I abandon the eternal riches of God’s Kingdom for the fleeting riches of this world?

Shall I become one of the worldly, whose sole motivations in life are greed and lust for power, fame and fortune?

Who will I become without the Living God?

Just another person meant to suffer His wrath on Judgment Day.

-------

It would seem that the faithful are given the devil’s choice: love God and suffer persecution from the world, or love the world and suffer judgment from God.

This is not surprising given that the devil himself tempted our Lord with the same choice.

…the devil took Him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. "I will give it all to You," he said, "if You will kneel down and worship me." - (Matthew 4:8-9 NLT)

The Messiah Himself warned His disciples of these trials:

"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. - (John 15:18-20 NIV)

If our Lord was persecuted by the world, then as His followers we can expect to be treated no less.

This has always been a hard teaching for me to accept.

Is not a leader supposed to lead his people into safety? Why then does my King tell me that I must suffer for following Him?

The Apostle Paul offers the following words of comfort:

The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure. - (1 Corinthians 10:13 NLT)

The Creator Himself encourages me as He spoke through the prophet Jeremiah:

For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. - (Jeremiah 29:11 NLT)

I hold on to these words, as I hold on to my faith in the Living God.

His words will be a lamp to guide my feet, allowing me to walk through the darkness until the coming of dawn, so that when dawn breaks, I will not cringe and fall from its light.

So that when all of the Truth is revealed, I will not be found living a lie.

So that when the Day of Judgment does come, I will run to my Lord rather than flee from Him.

May His rod and staff continue to guide me until that day.

I urge you therefore brothers and sisters in the faith, not to be misled nor distracted by the predictions of false prophets. I believe that if our Lord meant for us to know the exact day of His Judgement, then people will be tempted to wait until the last moment to repent of their ways.

Thus says the Lord through the prophet Isaiah:

Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed." - (Isaiah 6:10 NIV)
In the Lord's infinite wisdom, He has chosen to seal up this knowledge from the world, so that the truly faithful might be revealed.

As the Messiah commented on the faith of His disciple Thomas.

"Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." - (John 20:29 NIV)

Let us be encouraged that our faith in Him is not in vain.

To Him be all the Glory.