Interview with Pastor Galanza about an intercultural application of James 2:14-26

While I was in the Philippines, I had the opportunity to interview pastor Galanza of Mount Holy Christian Bible Church. He is also the Dean of Students at the Center for Biblical Studies Institute and Professor at the seminary. Here is a link to the interview that is part of the podcast Beyond the Stained Glass. The weekly podcast can be found on Apple podcast or your favorite podcast provider.

A day of Christmas parties

ACCPHIL Christmas Party

Filipinos like their parties. First we went to the ACCPHIL (Association of Christian Churches in the Philippines) pastor's Christmas party. There were lots of smiles, laughter, and lots of games that involved sorting people quickly...by sir name..by first name...by province (which for me I guess would be Pasco county)...by favorite cartoon character alphabetically. I didn't really understand all the games, but I did enjoy watching the pastor's and their families enjoy one another. We (Eberts and the Abells) were able to provide the pig for the party so I think I can officially claim ownership of a pig even though it was for a short time. It was roasted in typical Filipino fashion and delicious as always. There were other items provided by the families all were very enjoyable along with the sweets!

CBSIS Christmas Party

This evening we attended the CBSIS (Center for Biblical Studies Institute and Seminary) student Christmas party. Their theme was "throwback" Christmas so they were dressed in clothes that represented different time eras. They had a meal there that included traditional Filipino fare. They also had many games that they seemed to enjoy. They exchanged gifts by class. I was the invited speaker for the evening and spoke from Luke 2:8-20, the shepherd's story from the Christmas narrative. After the short message, they resumed their games which lasted late into the evening. I am excited about these students' future ministry. They are the future pastors and Christian workers for the Philippines. When I travel here, I get to see every iteration of what God is doing through this ministry. Last week the conference we taught was hosted Pastor Posadas, now elderly, an early graduate of CBSIS. Tonight we were with students yet to find their place in ministry. It is all part of the thirty-year history of God's work at the Hilltop. I am so grateful for the small part he has given us in it.

Sunday Service at Kingswill Baptist Church

Julianne and I attended Kingswill Baptist Church. Pastor Willy Cruz has been the senior pastor of the church for over fifteen years. He has been preaching through the ten commandments and asked me to continue his series by preaching the fourth commandment, the sabbath day (Exod. 20:8-11). A couple from his church, Gene and Lillie, picked us up at Hilltop at 7:30 a.m. and we drove a little more than an hour to the church. We arrived at the church, which rents space above a welding shop in Novaliches. The congregation was very eager to learn and were warm toward us. After several specials that celebrated the Christmas season, I preached on the sabbath commandment. The sabbath compels us to remember God's character by remembering his day (vs 8), it compels us to keep God as our central focus in our rhythm of life (vs 9-10), and it compels us to anticipate the eschaton through sabbath rest. (vs 11). The preaching was followed by a time of question and answer by the congregation. After the service, we shared a meal with pastor Willy, his wife Fely, and three of their children. We had a traditionally prepared Filipino meal of steamed vegetables, beef, and rice. After the meal, the pastor Willy and his wife took us back to the Hilltop.

Bacolod Bible Conference in the Books

Today we completed the Bible conference in Bacolod. The two-day conference brought pastors from the local area in for a study of the Old Testament use in the New Testament. Specifically, we covered how the Epistle of Hebrews uses Psalm 22 and 95 as well as Jeremiah 31 (New Covenant) to reinforce the overall theme of worship in the text. I preached Psalm 22, 95 and Jeremiah 31, each followed by the corresponding Hebrews text by my travel partner Dan Ebert. On the second day, Julianne met with the ladies in attendance and taught from the book of Ruth. After the first night of the conference, we met up with CBSIS alumni in the local area. It was a great time of fellowship and listening to what God is doing in their ministries. The second evening we had a birthday dinner with the host Pastor Posadas to celebrate his 75th birthday. This pastor ministers in one of the most difficult parts of Bacolod because of poverty. He is a true testimony to God's blessing on his work to these people. We travel back to Manila on Saturday and prepare for a Sunday morning service.

New discipleship and academic possibilities with San Roque Supermarkets

On Monday we met with a Christian businessman, Mr. Carlos. He is the owner of a twenty-five store grocery chain in Metro Manila. He currently holds Bible studies in his stores; about an hour is set aside each week for the employees to voluntarily attend the study. If the employees choose to attend they are not docked pay; they are able to study the scriptures on company time! Mr. Carlos has become concerned about the quality of the content of the studies currently held and wanted us to formulate a curriculum for him. He wants to use his business specifically for kingdom work; he is expanding stores specifically for this reason. We met at a local restaurant to discuss his needs and concerns. As we talked, it became clear, he wanted us to create a basic curriculum for seekers and new believers as well as a more academically oriented program that could possibly transfer to the CBS Seminary. We informed him of our desire to expand CBSIS and he is excited about the possibilities also. By the end of the meeting, we agreed to create two programs. The basic program will be for helping disciple young believers and introduce the gospel to the workers in the stores. The advanced program will be for those seeking formal education that might lead to a degree with us.

Mr. Carlos is going to fund the necessary video equipment and room upgrade necessary at the Hilltop to record the Bible study sessions. These recorded Bible study sessions will be shown weekly; the Bible study attendees will follow along in related workbooks also created by us. These videos will be about an hour in length and a local pastor or one of our seminary students will facilitate a discussion about the content of the video. The endeavor is an answer to prayer as we have been praying for ways to expand CBSIS off the Hilltop campus into Metro Manila. This is an important first step in that direction. He wants to have a pilot ready for the end of January, which is a really short timetable with the Christmas season upon us; so we have much work to do!

We arrived! Sunday preaching at the Hilltop Church

Julianne and I, ready to embark on our 16
hour flight to Narita, Japan

Julianne and I made it to Manila trouble-free! We departed Tampa at 9am, flew to Washington D.C. for a 16 hour flight to Narita Japan, then a 4 1/2 hour flight to Manila. We arrived at 10 p.m. on Saturday night. Because it is the Christmas season, customs was very busy. More than I have ever seen on my prior trips here.

Headed through a very busy
customs in Manila

Sunday morning we rode up to the Hilltop where the Center for Biblical Studies Institute and Seminary is located. The Hilltop also hosts a church that serves the local community. This Sunday the children sang some Christmas songs and I preached.

After a short night's rest, ready to worship at Hilltop Church

Preaching at Hilltop Church

Later in the afternoon, there was a children's activity for the Christmas season. In the states sometimes we complain when people put out Christmas decorations too early. In the Philippines, the Christmas season begins about September and continues through the first of the year.

The children of Hilltop Church getting ready to sing for church. 

Wednesday: The final day of the All4Christ conference

Preaching the word

Today we held our final meetings for the All4Christ conference. I spoke in the morning out of Luke 14:25-35 on the "Cost of Discipleship." We shared a great lunchtime meal with these pastors and Christian workers followed by the final session of the day.

Meeting up with CBS Bible Institute
and Seminary Graduates

Lunchtime

The attendees received books and other resources to assist them with their ministry. The people were appreciative of our teaching and were anxious to find out when we were going to return. That is always the hard part because there are so many places with needs in this country, that we could move on without returning and not run out of ministry opportunities. Just while I was here a pastor was urging us to come up into the tribal mountain area to teach because the men pastoring have absolutely no training. He said, "Even a two-day conference such as this would be a great help to them."

Book and resources distribution

Another pastor thanked me for my two messages and showed me the notes that he took. He told me he was going to preach my messages to his congregation for the next two weeks. He said, "they need to hear this from the word." In a way, it is satisfying that a need has been filled and of course I want him to use anything I deliver to help the church. However, it is burdensome realizing there is some much work and so little time to do it.

Manny Pacquiao Hotel

We left Koronadal this afternoon and headed back to Gensan (General Santos). We fly out tomorrow back to Manila. My heart is full from making new friends and feeding the church. We are staying at the Manny Pacquiao Hotel. He seemingly owns half of Gensan. Nothing like sleeping on a Manny Pacquiao pillow for the night! Hope I don't end up with a black eye in the morning.

The All4Christ team plus me and Dan Ebert

Tuesday: First day of All4Christ

Roadside fruit stand on
the way to Koronadal

Pineapples and Durin (stinky fruit)

Monday we traveled to Koronadal. We flew into Gensan which is short for General Santos. Upon arrival, we took an hour van ride to Koronadal. This area is known as the fruit basket of the Philippines. On the way, we stopped at a large fruit stand and I understood why it is called this. There are several Dole farms in the area, producing many pineapples. There are many other kinds of fruit here and you will find few of them in any American produce departments. All of the ones I tasted were delicious.

Rambutam

I tasted lazones and rambutam as well as pineapple when we stopped at the stand.

We arrived at Koronadal just before supper. After a short rest, the All4Christ team met for supper and planning for the next day. The supper consisted of several kinds of seafood including fish, calamari, shrimp salad, and seafood corn chowder (food is definitely the theme of this post!).

Tuesday, we went to the venue and set up. We had about 120 pastors, wives, and Christian workers attend the event.

Preaching from Luke 14:1-25

The first day went well with four messages and a question and answer at the end of the day. Tonight we will meet for dinner and debrief on the first day. I got a ride back to the hotel from the event in a motorcycle sidecar taxi which is always a bit exciting.

About 120 attendees for the conference

Walk-up registration

Tomorrow is our final day in Koronadal and the conference. We will return to Gensan to spend the night before our return flight to Manila. We hope to be able to spend some extended time tomorrow night with our CBSIS graduates that are ministering in the area. Please continue to pray for these pastors as some of them have requested that we return and come to their towns. Many of these pastors are from or around the Muslim autonomous region and in some cases, their continued ministry is at the goodwill of the local Muslim cleric. Of course, we know God turns the heart of men, so we pray that He will continue to do so.

The Motorcycle taxi,
always an exciting ride

Graduates of the Center for Biblical Studies that came
to the conference that are ministering around Koronadal

Monday travel to Koronadal

I'm up early this morning because today is our travel and set up day for the All4Christ conference. We are leaving at 5am for the airport. It could take up to 4 hours to reach the airport because of traffic congestion. Welcome to Manila traffic!

Yesterday we had a great time worshipping the Lord with our brothers and sisters at Mount Holy Christian Bible Church. As always with the Filipino people, they were warm and welcoming. I have provided a few pictures of our time there and the wonderful lunch afterward. Please pray for our travels today and that the resources for the pastors made to Koronadal. They had a Typhoon off the Northern coast that has prohibited some of the packages from making to places around the country.

Preaching the Word

Dan Ebert and I at Rustic Morning for Lunch

Me with Pastor Leo, Dan Ebert, and Elder Wilbur

Elder Wilbur and his wife

My lunch at an unbelievable place called Rustic Morning

It's Sunday, come worship the Lord!

Sunday Praise!

Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, Lord, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all. - 1 Chron. 29:11

• Acknowledge the things are present around you that reflect His greatness and power, His glory, majesty and splendor, and His sovereign control of the heaven and earth.
  
• Rejoice that His kingdom reigns supreme in spite of all the fallenness we see around us. The just and righteous King is coming to restore all things new!

The church at Marikina

Saturday I met up with a Clearwater Christian College student for coffee. He has a professional job in Manila, but looking forward to being able to minister full time in the future. It was an encouraging time talking about ministry and our experience at CCC.

I am headed to Marikina, part of Metro-Manila, Mount Holy Christian Bible Church. I will be preaching James 3:13-18. I gave you the basic theme in another blog post. However, would you commit to reading the passage and praying over it for the Holy Spirit to apply the message to the hearts of these dear people? After the morning service, I will join a panel of individuals that will be discussing apologetics topics during the Bible training hour. Please pray that the Lord would provide wisdom for my responses to the questions.

Men's Bible study and All4Christ final preparations

Saturday morning I led a men's Bible study. It was a good mix of laymen and pastors from the campus church as well as students from the Center for Biblical Studies. We had a good time around God’s word and pandesal (bread). Of course, we had coffee too. Most of the students present are in their second or third year at the institute.

Men's Morning Bible Study

After the Bible study, I finished my final message out of Luke 14:25-35 to be given at the All4Christ conference. In this passage, Jesus provides three conditions for becoming a disciple. First, following Jesus demands absolute loyalty to him (vss 25-26). In comparison to one's loyalty to him, they must hate their close family members and even themselves. Of course, he is not calling us to hate anyone. He calls us to love our enemies (Luke 6:27). However, our loyalty to him must far surpass our love or loyalty to others, even those closest to us. Second, following Jesus demands an absolute commitment to him (vs 27). Here we have two actions. One, we must take up our cross. This implies that following Jesus is a journey, it takes place throughout our life. It also implies self-denial. We don't get to choose our path, it is chosen for us and we submit to it. Two, we must come after him. This implies that we must move toward Christ. We should always be growing in our Christlikeness. The third condition of following Jesus requires counting the cost (vss 28-33). Here Jesus provides two illustrations. One is about a person that sets out to build a tower. In doing so, he should sit down and count the cost. This means he should consider the matter carefully and determine the affordability. The second illustration is about the king with a numerically inferior army going to war. He too should sit down and contemplate if he can tactically win. If he determines victory is not possible, he should go out and entreat the superior king for peace. Both of these illustrations provide a different view of the cost of discipleship. The first illustration asks "can you afford to follow Jesus?" while the second illustration asks "can you afford not to follow Jesus?" In the end, Jesus provides reasons for these conditions: A disciple must clearly reflect the teachings of the master (vss 34-35). Here Jesus uses the analogy of salt to make his point. If salt cannot fulfill its function which is to flavor food, then it is worthless. In the same way, if a disciple cannot fulfill their function, they are worthless. If salt cannot fulfill its function men throw it away. In the same way, our lives, when tainted by our incompatible choices of lifestyle, desires, and motivations, is not seen as useful to others and discarded.

Finally, I am excited that this afternoon I get to meet up with a former student from Clearwater Christian College. It will be great to catch up with him to see what God is doing through his ministry in Manila. He found out through social media that I was in Manila and reached out to meet up.

It's Friday! Mangosteen Fruit Day (Just kidding about the fruit)

Mangosteen Fruit

Thank you to everyone who prayed for my struggling computer. I reinstalled the operating system software and along with your prayers, it is healed!! It continues to rain heavily here as a monsoon is still off the northeast coast of the island which is providing plenty of wet weather. I guess Florida living prepared me for this.

Today I am putting together my Powerpoint for next week's All4Christ conference and finishing up to two messages from Luke 14:15-35. The first message is found in verses 15-24 which I titled invitation to discipleship. Here we are looking at the types of people representative of people invited to dine at the banquet in the kingdom of God. In other words, those invited to become disciples of Christ. In this passage, Jesus tells a parable that describes three groups of people that are invited to a banquet. The first group had previously committed to coming but when the banquet was ready, declined to come, each making shallow excuses. Sometimes the seemingly most obvious groups of people to evangelize are not the most receptive. Upon hearing the response of the invited guests, the master commanded the servant to go to the poor, lame, and blind. This second group of people reminds us that people around us that need Christ many times have deep physical needs that accompany their spiritual needs. Just as Jesus, we need to address these physical needs too. We need to remember that Jesus isn't looking for the perfect one to follow Him, He is looking for the needy, messy ones that realize only Christ can restore them physically and spiritually. After the needy came to the banquet, the servant informed the master that there is still room. As needy of some people are, there is room in the kingdom of God for them and more! The servant is commanded the third time to go out and find people. This time he is to go to the highways and hedges, or out beyond the land of the master. The third group is culturally and perhaps religiously different from the master. However, upon accepting the invitation, they too are welcome in the kingdom of God. This reminds us of the mission of the church to the world beyond their own lands. We are called to go to unreached no matter their culture, religion, or ethnicity. The kingdom of God is open to all kinds of people no matter their socio-economic position, physical condition, or cultural background.

Yesterday we had a very productive meeting with the administration of the Center for Biblical Studies. We discussed new curriculum changes and enrollment strategies. The curriculum changes are necessary because of the new CHED accreditation they received that requires certain general education courses as part of their degree. Enrollment strategies and marketing are becoming more important here as technology and social media gain prominence in this culture. We took some time to discuss kinds of strategies used in the U.S. and how they may be implemented here in the Philippines. The community is large of the culture here. Filipinos are very relational and this must be a part of any strategy implemented.

When I travel to the Philippines I always enjoy trying new food. Yesterday I was introduced to a fruit

called mangosteen (the non-furry fruit in the picture). It has a sweet followed by a tart taste similar to cranberry juice. The white part peels apart similar to an orange and it has a large seed in it (that you don't eat!).