To my Brothers in the Holy Roman Church
Not out of jealousy, not out of hatred, not out of malice, but out of love I ask you to consider your position here in the Philippines. I simply must as a Christian stand up for my Lord and Savior. I call on you to repent as instructed in the valuable lesson in our Holy Bible.
Revelation 3 (New International Version)
To the Church in Laodicea
14"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. 15I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. 19Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. 20Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. 21To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. 15I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. 19Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. 20Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. 21To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
I am curious. What position do you want us to consider?
ReplyDeleteI think each person must examine their lives for themselves. I would never impose my position on anyone.
ReplyDeleteMy position on this is exactly as it states in the Holy Bible. I believe it to be the Divine writings of the Lord. My position is clearly stated in that quote. "So be earnest, and repent."
ReplyDeleteBy the way, putting this article in the proper context, I'm not talking about this as it relates to the "End Times", but how it guides us in our way of dealing with what has taken place in the Philippines.
ReplyDeleteValues have not been properly taught by the Church, it has led to almost total corruption. It's on your police force, within your government agencies, in your schools, it's rampant everywhere. I've hoped and prayed that everyone would focus on the one problem that must be fixed first. All the other problems can never be attempted while corruption exists here. Any money the government would throw at a problem would be wasted by the ones who are already taking money as much as they can. 1000 pesos for a passing grade, on and on it goes people. It's got to stop, and stop now.
ReplyDeleteNow, the point to all of that is this, if everyone is doing it, does that make it OK? Back to the teachings of my parents, my mother Rest Her Soul, "Mother: Why did you do that? Mark: John did it. Mother: if John jumped off a cliff would you jump to? If everyone is doing it there has to be a systemic problem that has caused it. What is that problem? That's what we need to discover and fix.
ReplyDeleteThis comment was posted on the Kuro-Kuro site:
ReplyDeleteAngelita Coronel on October 2, 2010 at 12:39 pm
@ Mark and Merejen Borders: You have offered to help solve the many problems faced by your Filipino neighbors and friends. If you are really sincere in your offer, you don’t need to spend sleepless nights waiting for moral support from your friends. Just do it, man!!! Put it in writing, send it to proper channels, and do it in person, hold on to your resources and don’t trust anybody, don’t expose yourself like a sore thumb, because the enemy is so cunning, they are veterans in their own trade. As it is, you are showing fear, insecurity, doubt and cowardice which are the devil’s tools. You have to solve your own problems first before you try to help others. Not until your situation is under your control, will you be able to help others so forget it!!!Thanks for the offer, anyway!!!
Mark and Merejen Borders on October 2, 2010 at 11:15 pm
ReplyDeletePerhaps you have not followed my other statements on our blog, but 1. The offer started 3 years ago when I first came here and donated 430,000 pesos for the improvement of the water system in St. Christine, continued with the donation for the repair and refurbishing of the Barangay Hall. Continued as I sponsored Tennis Events, gave prizes for various Barangay fiestas, all during this time a Government Agency was blocking my permits and Land Title. Now after all this time, just where do you propose that I come up with resources now?
Yes the enemy is cunning and “fear,insecurity, doubt and cowardice” are not traits that I possess, but intelligence, caution, drive, determination, resiliency are. My point in all this battle is to do exactly as you mentioned, I will get this situation under my complete control. But to do that, I have no choice but to continue this fight. I’ve stated so many times now, I am on the side of your new President.
He is the Commander and Chief of this country, he is in command. He has already stated his position on corruption. What more does everyone need?
ReplyDeleteTell me.. what exactly is "the issue"?
ReplyDeleteNot sure what you are asking. One issue is that the Church is setting up stumbling blocks for a President who is making the best decisions for his country, while making some poor decisions of their own.
ReplyDeleteWe in the Philippines claim to have at least 85% Christianity. At the same time,year in and year out, our nation is ranked as one of the top 3 in world corruption! Those two statements do not compute! We do have 85% or more of CHURCHGOERS. But the claim of 85% Christianity which to me means , FOLLOWERS AND DOERS OF THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS CHRIST, simply has a very hollow ring to it.
ReplyDeleteIf we were true Christians, we would not have the amount of corruption that we have in our nation! This clearly indicates that those who steal from Monday to Friday also goes to Church every Sunday. But going to Church hardly qualifies one as a TRUE CHRISTIAN. And I would venture out to say that there is no such thing as a part-Christian. Either you are a Christian who OBEYS the Father and His commandments the best you can or you don't.
Joe Joson, USA
What a wonderful comment. I'll let everyone know I'm running discussions on several sites at one time and trying to post things back and forth. I hope everyone catches on to that.
ReplyDeleteOn Kuro-Kuro:
I have also been presented with situations where it is obvious there was either a lack of communication, lack of intelligence, or I was speaking to a brain-dead individual. It has become overly frustrating and it is taking away from the love and respect I have for my adopted country and it pisses me off. Out here in the province it has begun to feel very lonely. There is much violence around me, violence which I want no part of because that would require me to be the different person that I can be, but hate in myself when I am that person. I came here to help my friends and neighbors and to relax. I didn’t come here to fight, I hate fighting, but I’m very good at it. I believe in gradual escalation but on a continuous basis and my experience here in the province tells me that my type of escalation will not be understood. “Crab Mentality” I don’t have, and my situation must be fixed now.
Matthew 12:1-14
ReplyDelete11 And He said to them, "What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out?
12 "How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."
In hopes of helping with education, that last comment has a double entendre; which is to point out two issues. Church involvement and political responsibility.
ReplyDeleteEveryone be sure to "Subscribe by email" so this discussion can continue. It's needed badly!
ReplyDelete