BUILD UP

(image from fpmanchester.com)

"Please tell Tita Yay we were really inspired and blessed by the seminar. I pray pagamit pa sya sa Lord (that she will allow the Lord to use her some more) for His glory."

Text message sent by my new-found friend Nessie to my son Carlo soon after we concluded the second module of the "Winning His Way" seminar held recently at the Filipino Christian Center (FCC), Fort Washington, Maryland.

Did this message make my day? Absolutely. Not because I needed an ego-trip but because messages like these encourage me not to be discouraged even though I wallow in self-doubt and ineptness from time to time whenever I write or teach.

Sometimes I come to these talks doubting that I could do it; but His Word affirms, again and again, that "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength;" and "it is not by might or by power nor by my abilities," that I could!

It's all because of His amazing grace! He enables the unable.

I flew to the US with Wowa (that's how my five year-old grandaughter Charlize used to call this grandmother, "Lola" in Filipino) mission in mind---to be present for the birth of my third grandchild (Natalie) and help Carlo and his wife Opal initially cope with this new chapter in their life; but believing likewise that God would let me into others' lives through my books and their accompanying seminars.  
 
True to His promise, God has opened the door wider so that in the church which Carlo and Opal have come to regard as their spiritual home, He gave me a chance to hold not one, but two  seminars; and likewise be involved in the lives of the church's women.

Even in the US of A where people seem to be prospering materially, one meets former kababayans (countrymen) battling with even bigger dysfunctions and issues than they've faced before. 

Proof that we live in an imperfect world. But greater proof that His grace abounds even more where godlessness and indifference prevail.

Whether one lives in Manila, Washington DC or Timbuktu, his only hope for the best life ever is in the person of Jesus Christ!   

So I praise God for Filipino Christian Center's (FCC) Pastor Mariano Gabor's trust, along with the church leadership's welcoming heart.  Special thanks to Lynne and Lito Fister who helped promote the event and organize the meals, and Obet Bermudez who helped with the sound and video systems. Thanks too for the opportunity to sell my books, "Sorry to Burst Your Bubble" and "Going Up?" 

Either here in the US or in the Philippines, or in whatever part of the world, mass media report increased violence and criminality, and rampant teen pregnancies, with many babies born out of wedlock. Pornography, cussing and expletives pepper movie scenes.

Those who make a stand for biblical truths get to be treated as the bad guys, making believers extra wary about speaking the truth.

Oh that we would not be afraid to utter the truth; and not tire of standing up for one another, any which way we can, given every opportunity---as the day of His coming nears, and as greater darkness descends upon our uncaring world.

"But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit" (Jude 1:20). "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing" (1 Thes. 5:11).