Chronicles of a Staff Worker Dec. 1

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I started my December with a reminder during my devotions to give God's Name the honor and glory it deserves. To honor God's name is actually synonymous to honoring God Himself because in Jewish culture, the name is the exact representation of the person. This is the reason behind God's revelation to Moses regarding His name, "I am who I am."

There is no single name on earth that can fully represent our perfect God that is why He said His name is what He does, says, thinks and reveals-- His entirety.

God also reminded me to be always on the side of truth, my "yes" a "yes" and my "no" a "no." It is not good to prove the truthfulness of my claims through oaths that use God's Name. Instead of relying on God's credentials-- with the risk of disrespecting Him-- I must live a life of honesty, truth and righteousness. This very lifestyle will be the proof of my words and claims.

I spent much of the day preparing for my talk for Sampaguita Christian Fellowship. It will be an evangelistic meeting and I am going to speak on the controversial issues of evil and suffering. "How can a good God tolerate evil and suffering?" The question goes.

These books helped me a lot in preparing for my talk on the question,
"How can a good God tolerate Evil?"

I am not a philosopher or a strict theologian, but I praise God for great Christian thinkers like Paul Little, Ravi Zacharias, John Piper, C.S. Lewis and Dr. Isabelo Magalit who had written or spoken much on the topic. As I write this blog post, I am halfway through my talk. I'm finding it difficult to simplify my presentation and to put Christ and His message of salvation at the center.

But I am confident in my God because it is not I who will speak but God, and He will use me only as His instrument. In this light, I ask for prayers that I may be able to deliver the Gospel fully. Pray also that the Lord of the universe will prepare the hearts of those who will attend. May they see the Truth in Christ alone and accept Him by grace through faith to be their personal Lord and Savior.

Darwin and I also started our Bible Study today. This had been put off for almost a year now. I went back to the basics, starting with the the message of salvation. I presented the full Gospel while interacting with Darwin through thought-provoking questions. I was blessed by his eagerness and I continue to pray that his heart will be filled with passion to know God more and more.

(Left to right) Jayvee, Trex and Anthony joined tonight's fellowship
at the Yakal Tambayan Complex.

To cap the entire day, I joined Yakal's fellowship with Kuya Caloy as speaker. He delivered a message on James 1, emphasizing the call to continuously examine one's standing before the Lord. The great question that needs to be asked is this: "Am I truly a Christian?"

Kuya Caloy said though salvation is a personal decision, it could be confirmed through the bearing of good fruit from the Holy Spirit. If one is truly regenerated or saved, he or she must bear fruit. His or her life must prove the confession of faith. This is the meaning of James' statement, "Faith without works is dead."

We are saved by grace through faith alone. But true saving faith always bears fruit. He is challenging believers not to be complacent with their claims but to double check them through their life.

This had been a long and tiring day. I would have to wake up tomorrow at six to meet up with DCBC's workers in a breakfast fellowship. I pray that I'll still have the strength to finish all my work tomorrow.

Good night world!

Our beloved Kuya Caloy