What The Vatican Said About Evolution

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Tithing is not a law for Christians... FREEWILL GIVING IS!

"...for God loves a cheerful giver"

Old Covenant Tithing
In the Old Covenant, the Israelites were instructed to follow a lot of laws which included tithing. We are not taught to follow the rest of the laws they were given and neither should we try to follow the law of tithing.

Old Covenant Giving
The Israelites were asked to give what their hearts prompted them to give and on both occasions, the amount of gifts they gave was overwhelming.

Robbing God
In order for believers to be robbing God today, we would still have to be under all the laws God gave to the Israelites. The Bible tells us we are clearly not under those laws. In fact, the windows of heaven are not closed to Christians according to Ephesians 1:3 and 2 Peter 1:3.

Before the Law
Some say the tithing came before the law in an attempt to justify teaching it now. I'll show you that it is not a valid reason. Two incidents of tithing came before the law. Neither one is valid to use as justification that Christians ought to be 'tithing' now.

New Covenant 'Tithing'?
If we are taught to tithe in the New Covenant then there would be no issue. We are clearly not taught that we should tithe. Jesus told the Scribes and Pharisees that they should continue to tithe and keep all the other laws too! Jesus was not talking to us!

New Covenant Giving
The things Jesus taught about money and what the rest of the New Covenant continues to teach is what we need to do today. Freewill offerings is the only way demonstrated in the New Covenant.

Study of Hebrews
Hebrews chapter 7 is studied to determine what it really teaches concerning the law and concerning tithing. The conclusion is that it does not teach that Christians should be tithing and instead repeats what other scriptures also state - that Christians are not to attempt to follow the laws God gave to the Israelites.

We should be following the instructions outlined throughout the New Testament.

What should you do?


2 Cor 9:7
7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.(NIV)

As indicated in verse 7 above, you simply need to decide for yourself how much you can freely give. Whatever that amount is, give it cheerfully.

Am I being too critical?

Nope!

As leaders, much is expected from us. Consider this:

"...Every one

to whom much is given,

of him will much be required;

and

of him to whom men commit much

they will demand the more."

Luke 12:48

There is no room for mediocrity, disunity and pride in our community. If you can't work together, well, let those who can - serve the community.

BAD TO WORSE?

o o O o o 

Gather with people who love to give praise and thanks to God. That's why charismatics go to prayer meetings. 

o o o o o o o O o o o o o o o

Sirach 5:7 

Do not delay to turn to the Lord, nor postpone it from day to day

We are now on the second week of the second month of 2009 and still no gathering even just to Pray, Praise and Worship. So, whatever happened to the supposed meeting twice a month for prayer meeting and teaching night?

BRING BACK "CHARISMATIC" INTO THE COMMUNITY AND LET'S BE LED BY THE SPIRIT - AGAIN!

Are you afraid of doing God's work?

In one of our HH sharing, I once said:

"If Christ just died yesterday and we are the first Christians, it will take a very long while before we can produce the first martyr."

There's a big difference between "being a bold leader" and "being an irresponsible leader". We are all called to be WITNESSES, so why be afraid of being caught doing God's work? Aren't we supposed to be CHARISMATIC - being led by the SPIRIT!

Mabuti pa iyong mga nababalitaan nating nahuhuli, humihinto ba sila? Kung minsan halos kada buwan nababalitaan nating nagkakahulian, natigil na ba sila? Meron nga akong officemate dati na-deport dahil sa gawain nila pero kailan lang nakabalik at walang kadala-dala ayon dating gawi naglilingkod pa rin ng walang takot. CONVICTION ba tawag dun? So tanungn ko kayo, ano unahin ninyo?

• HH o Party?
• LCS o HH?
• EC o LCS?
• Confess Now or Next time?
• Glorify God o Security muna?

DARE TO BE DANIEL?

BAD START...

It's now February.

We are now on the second month of 2009, so what happened? Why wasn't God glorified by the gathering of the MCG for the month of January?

Questions, questions and more questions?

Well, it is indeed a... bad start.

o o O o o

Gather with people who love to give praise and thanks to God.

That's why charismatics go to prayer meetings.

o o o o o o o O o o o o o o o

Sirach 5:7

Do not delay to turn to the Lord, nor postpone it from day to day

Define "PRUDENCE"...

Does it mean...

• overcautious?
• excessively cautious?
• unduly careful?
• unnecessarily cautious?
• prudent to excess?
• or perhaps, paranoia?
  

... because if it leads to the delay, postponement, or worst, cancellation of the "ad majorem Dei gloriam" then it can't possibly mean "prudence".

Let's see what the dictionary says...

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

Function:

noun

1 : the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason
2 : sagacity or shrewdness in the management of affairs
3 : skill and good judgment in the use of resources
4 : caution or circumspection as to danger or risk

Dictionary.com

–noun

1.	the quality or fact of being prudent.

2.	caution with regard to practical matters; discretion.

3.	regard for one's own interests.

4.	provident care in the management of resources; economy; frugality.

Pru"dence\, n. The quality or state of being prudent; wisdom in the way of caution and provision; discretion; carefulness; hence, also, economy; frugality.

Prudence is principally in reference to actions to be done, and due means, order, seasons, and method of doing or not doing. --Sir M. Hale.

Prudence supposes the value of the end to be assumed, and refers only to the adaptation of the means. It is the relation of right means for given ends. --Whewell.

Syn: Wisdom; forecast; providence; considerateness; judiciousness; discretion; caution; circumspection; judgment.

Now, listen to what the Sacred Scripture say...

Proverbs 3:25-28

Do not be afraid of sudden panic, or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes; for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, "Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it" -- when you have it with you.

Tobit 12:17

But he (angel Raphael) said to them, "Do not be afraid; you will be safe. But praise God forever.

Proverbs 3:5

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight.

Psalm 56:3-4

When I am afraid, I put my trust in thee. In God, whose word I praise,

in God I trust without a fear. What can flesh do to me?

Now define...
DISCERNMENT!

CULTURE OF FEAR (10 years after)

In 2009, let's get rid of this
CULTURE OF FEAR in our Community,
by being...

Men Without Fear

In Judges chapter 7 verse 7: The LORD said to Gideon, "By means of the three hundred who lapped up the water I will save you and will deliver Midian into your power. So let all the other soldiers go home."

Let me quickly review the story with you. Verse 2 reads The LORD said to Gideon, "You have too many soldiers with you for me to deliver Midian into their power, lest Israel vaunt itself against me and say, 'My own power brought me the victory.' In verse 3, God told Gideon to "proclaim to all the soldiers, 'If anyone is afraid or fearful, let him leave." Twenty-two thousand returned, only ten thousand remained. I concluded, two-thirds of the men were fearful. This meant that only one-third were MEN WITHOUT FEAR. In verse 4 the Lord said, "There are still too many soldiers. Lead them down to the water and I will test them for you there". There were 10,000 men without fear, but God would use only 300 men.

In verse 5 the Lord said, "You shall set to one side everyone who laps up the water as a dog does with its tongue; to the other, everyone who kneels down to drink." Verse 6 tells us about the 300 hundred men who, while standing lapped water with their hand to their mouth: the rest bowed down.

Although 9,700 men were MEN WITHOUT FEAR, they bowed down to drink. Only 300 remained erect, drinking water from their hand. They seem to remained upright, looking for the enemy. They were PREPARED for battle. In verse 7, the Lord said, "By means of the three hundred who lapped up the water I will save you". The number 300 is less than one percent of the original 32,000 soldiers.

Relevance in CFC-KSA today

I came to the realization and the conclusion that even today, God continues to use only a small number of men. He uses a similar plan, a similar equation, spiritually speaking. Even today, about one-third of men seem to be MEN WITHOUT FEAR – men seeking to serve God. These are men and women who have decided to follow God. God however, will only use a very small number of people to fulfill His divine plan.

How can I be used by God?

How does God determine and then select these individuals? God uses only a few men to fulfill His divine plan. He does not intend for man to receive the glory for His plan or for what He is doing. I believe that God separates His people by selecting those who are WITHOUT FEAR, those WILLING to be used, those SEEKING to be used, those who have PREPARED themselves to be used by God and possibly most important: those WILLING TO GIVE GOD THE GLORY for the victory.

NO MATTER WHAT IT TAKES!

This is where I take my hats off to our "separated" brethren... lagi silang nahuhuli, humihinto ba sila sa gawain nila? I thank them for making me understand the word "conviction", they are truly one of the few and I truly honor them.

You might ask the question, how can I become one of the few in Couples for Christ who are really used by God to fulfill His divine plan? I am convinced that first, you have to be in the WORD every day. Second, you have to be in PRAYER every day, and third, you must FREQUENTLY MEET with others of a like heart, mind, soul, and purpose. This will help you to be PREPARED to be used by God!

Finally you must be willing to GIVE GOD THE GLORY for what HE is doing, what He has done and what He is going to do!

READ!READ!
Judges 7:1-25 Gideon, with three hundred men, by stratagem defeats the Madianites.This chapter presents us with Gideon in the field, commanding the army of Israel , and routing the army of the Midianites, for which great exploit we found in the former chapter how he was prepared by his converse with God and his conquest of Baal. We are here told,

Judges 7
Gideon's army reduced. (1-8)
Gideon is encouraged. (9-15)
The defeat of the Midianites. (16-22)
The Ephraimites take Oreb and Zeeb. (23-25)

[[[Emailed to Cluster 2 on December 29, 2008]]]

SILENT NO MORE in 2009!

This blog of mine is getting to be a big joke to me. Ang tapang ng statement pero wala namang kamandag at higit sa lahat WALANG LAMAN! haha... Well, sana after 2 years na inactive ay magiging aktibo na rin ako finally. Pasantabi na lang po sa mga Tito at Tita ko kung medyo masasagi kayo sa mga isusulat ko.

Pero nais kong ipa-una na constructive lahat ang pagpuna ko at in the Spirit of Meekness lahat ang mababasa ninyo mula sa akin. At nais ko ring ipabatid na ako ang kauna-unahang GUILTY kung inaakala ninyo na pine-personal ko kayo.

With due respect and lots of love sa aking mga fellow elders...

SORRY PO kung tatamaan kayo!

Talk Talk Talk!

FUN TIME NAMAN!

Napansin ko karamihan ng mga service team sa CLP ang akala nila talagang limited lang sa 45 minutes ang talk ng mga speakers. Ano ba talaga sinasabi ng manual tungkol dito masilip nga...

... excerpts from CLP Teamleader's Guide, Annex B - Guidelines for Speakers, page 28:

5. Your talk should be for a duration of about 45 minutes. In any case, it should not be less than 30 minutes nor more than one hour.

Ayun naman pala eh if possible not more than one hour daw, meaning, pwede lampas ng 45 minutes... ha ha hihirit pa... eh kasi naman kanina sa Pray Over invoke nila ang Holy Spirit na gawin akong mouthpiece. Paano kung granted ang prayers and the HS still want to say more through me - he he talagang forcing the issue pa.

Share ko naman mga funny moments ko...

...# 1
Comment ng isang T2 after ng talk ko...
T2: Ang haba raw ng talk mo T2
Me: HA? Ang dami kong magandang nasabi sa talk bakit iyong haba ng talk lang ang naalala nila?

Ha-ha sa totoo lang... GUILTY!

...# 2

T2: Tito may aalis po ng lunch sa mga participants pwede po ba on time po tayo sa talk ninyo? (translation: Wag po sana mahaba Talk nyo - notorious na ba talaga ako?)

Me: Ganun po ba? Eh may special offer po ako, pwede ko po ibigay ang talk na ito 45 minutes to 1 hour o pwede kong basahin na lang 15 minutes tapos ito.

T2: He he si T2 naman... di na kayo mabiro siempre gusto namin kayong mag-talk.. BILISAN NYO LANG NG KONTI HA!?!

May matawa kaya dito? Huwag naman kayo laging serious pang-alis din ito ng BURN-OUT!

SMILE and God Bless!

IT'S BEEN AWHILE NA.!

Maybe you're wondering, what ever happened to this blog after boasting of sharing my electronic mind and venturing into unchartered horizon - Hold That Thought... No More! - he he is it the English language that's keeping me from pounding my keyboard?!? Hmmm... tagalugin mo kasi he he... o sige na nga Taglish pwede na.

So ano na? Well, umpisahan ko sa mga observation ko sa mga teachings natin. Let me make this very clear, I'll be sharing my thoughts and observations not with a QUESTIONING HEART but to BUILD-UP our community kumbaga mga constructive criticism ba. Of course, anybody can rebuke me if I'm wrong or most especially if I'm getting out-of-line.

So, eto na paunang salvo na brought up ko na ito minsan sa MCG...

WHERE'S THE FOLLOW-UP?

• Orientation of a new household to CFC (after the CLP)
  
• Covenant Orientation
• Marriage Enrichment Retreat 1
  
• Marriage Enrichment Retreat 2

Meron pa kayang ibang teaching na may FOLLOW-UP? Ito rin ang topic ng last entry ko kaya maigsi na lang ang magiging komento ko. Sa MER napapansin ko na panay ang schedule ng activity na ito pero ewan ko lang sa ibang HH kung nagagawa pa nilang gawin iyong mga FOLLOW-UP meetings ng mga ito. Kami ni Tita tagal na naming natapos MER 1 and 2 pero never pa namin na-experience ang mga FOLLOW-UP nito.

Ang primary reason ay ang di sabay-sabay na pagkuha ng MER ng mga member couple kaya di magawa ang 9 FOLLOW-UP meetings ng mga ito. Dahil di nga naman sabay-sabay uma-attend ang mga HH members kaya di na magawa ang FOLLOW-UP. Pero dahilan ba ito para di na balikan o isagawa ang mga meetings na ito o kalimutan ng tuluyan?

Sa ganang akin lamang kung iisipin mo mas importante ang FOLLOW-UP kesa doon sa MER proper mismo dahil kailangan ma-sustain kung ano mang magandang naidulot ng MER sa buhay ng mag-asawa. di ba?

Ano saysay ng mga MER natin kung ganitong karamihan sa atin ay walang mga FOLLOW-UP meetings pala?

Para mo na ring tinanong na... bakit pa tayo nagsi-CLP kung napapadami lang natin ang Chinese community - LAI-LO - he he teka ibang topic na iyan - abangan!

Huwag tayong pikon - GOD BLESS!

Time to slowdown!

Is “fast track” still the order of the day?

During one of our cluster meeting I’ve brought up this question in our sharing. Just barely a month after the CLP, in most cases, while still in the Orientation of New Household to CFC there is an urge to give the Covenant Orientation talks right away.

This put the new household head in a dilemma, why? Let's say they're already in their 5th meeting of their ONH2CFC then the CO talk is given. What then will the household head going to do now? Will he resume the 4 remaining meetings of the Orientation of New Household or will he go on with Covenant Orientation Follow-up instead?

Ah-huh... now the cat is out of the bag, so to speak. I've asked about 8 Tito's about this and all of them were honest enough to admit that they forget about the remaining meetings and proceed with the CO Follow-up and that's what seems to be the common practice.

I don’t know why everybody seems to be in hurry - really! Oh no, don't tell me it is because FS talk is next, duh?

This may be so in the beginning to fast track would-be-leaders but that’s almost 10 years ago. I think we’ve compromised a lot in terms of “too-much-to-soon” with our formation teaching that we’ve been at a “receiving mode” for so long that we forgot to switch to “absorbing mode” because the teachings are given in rapid fire succession that we do not have time to reflect and absorb the teachings anymore.

First, let us look at what the “CFC Household Heads Manual” says on page 12:

E. TOPICS FOR MEETINGS

1. For the first year (for new members right after the CLP), the household meetings are used to follow up on the topics in the teaching program. Thus the first year would look like this:

3 months ‑‑ CLP [2 months in this part of the globe]

3 months ‑‑ Follow up

1 day ‑‑ Covenant Orientation [or 2 weekends or 4 HH]

3 months ‑‑ Follow up

1 weekend ‑‑ MER

3 months ‑‑ Follow up

* Manuals are provided for each of the three "Follow up" phases.

And on page 1 of the “Orientation of New Households to CFC we can read in part:

CONTENT OF THE MEETINGS

Since there are 3 household meetings in a month, this 3‑month phase may encompass 9 household meetings in all. Following are the proposed contents for each of these meetings. The household head may opt to have topics or content other than these, as long as the basic objectives for this phase are met.

Let us look at the follow up to CLP, the “Orientation of New Household to CFC”, the manual shows that it consist of nine (9) meetings shown as follows:

On the 1^st Month:

Meeting No. 1 - See the “CFC Household Head’s Manual”

Meeting No. 2 - See the “CFC Household Head’s Manual”

Meeting No. 3 - See the “CFC Household Head’s Manual”

Appropriate teaching may be given on the 4^th week

On the 2nd Month:

Meeting No. 4

1. Full worship, a separate meeting, fellowship.

2. Topic: Share on personal prayer and Bible reading.

Meeting No. 5

1. Full worship, a separate meeting, fellowship.

2. Topic: Share on personal life‑‑interests, hobbies, work, schedule of activities, etc.

Meeting No. 6

1. Full worship, a separate meeting, fellowship.

2. Topic: Share on family life‑‑relationship with spouse, relationship with children, family schedule, family prayer, family recreation, etc.

Appropriate teaching may be given on the 4^th week

On the 3rd Month:

Meeting No. 7

1. Full worship, a separate meeting, fellowship.

2. Topic: Share on how they are experiencing growth in and through CFC.

Meeting No. 8

1. Have full worship.

2. This meeting is a joint meeting.

3. Discuss the CFC logo.

* Do they understand what CFC stands for?

* Where are they at in relation to who they ought to be and what they ought to be for in CFC?

4. Have your time of fellowship.

Meeting No. 9

1. Full worship, a separate meeting, fellowship.

2. Topic for sharing:

* How are they experiencing personal conversion and de­veloping their personal relationship with Jesus?

* How are they appreciating God's call to be in a particu­lar body, which is CFC?

Appropriate teaching may be given on the 4^th week

Note

1. Whenever there is a fifth week in the month, this can be devoted to a time of fellowship or a purely social activi­ty. You may choose to do a variety of activities, either in a home or outside.

2. The next phase after this Orientation of New Households is a one‑day recollection referred to as the "Covenant Orien­tation". In case this is scheduled early, some of the topics of the abovementioned meetings will have to wait for another time. In case the recollection is late, then there will be added household meetings where the topics will have to be decided on by the household head. You have a variety of sources for topics: the CLP talks, the Ugnayan "Growing in the Lord" articles, Christian books, etc.

I distributed the New Household Guide during our chapter meeting highlighting the 1st year formation course for new households wherein I compiled all year-long activities into one file. I mentioned the importance of this ONH2CFC because this is the get-to-know-you-better or the "bonding" between household head and members. Just look at the topics for discussion from meetings 4 to 9, during the CLP they are on the receiving end and now we get to hear more of them and less of us.

See what a loss if we cut corners by foregoing the remaining follow-up meetings just to give way to the CO talks.

Well I'm not saying that our chapter is the best right now because I'm raising this observation. We are still in the process of correcting this oversight too.

End of observation muna nose bleed na ako eh!

Buena Mano!

Oist.. atin-atin lang ito ha kumbaga ito ang electronic mind ko... kung napansin din ninyo wala akong opinion o personal sharing pino-post dun sa chapter blogsite natin in more than a month na nagpo-post ako doon... malinaw kasi sa sinulat ko doon sa profile ko kung bakit ginawa ko iyong blog para talaga iyon sa chapter-service natin... although madalas kong pinipigilan ang sarili ko na mag-post ng personal thoughts ko to shield ang mga chapter members sa mga biases o violent reactions o kung ano mang komento meron ako sa kasalukuyan.

Napili ko palang ipangalan na blogsite e "Bless The Food Na!" at ang title naman ay "Hold That Thought... No More!" kasi nga di ba after ng bless the food e fellowship na... meaning lahat ng mapag-usapan ay off the record na he he... parang we can be ourselves na... less serious ba unlike sa PW proper wherein iwas biruan naka-focus sa sharing and discussions.. di tulad ng fellowship nandoon na ang biruan, tawanan at kung anu-ano pang usapan.

Di ko layunin na kumbinsihin o guluhin ang isipan ninyo sa mga isusulat ko dito... malaya po ninyo akong itama sa mga mali kong akala basta po kung ano ang mapag-usapan natin dito ay mananatili po lahat sa blog na ito at wala pong personalan. Kaya pagkatapos po ninyo mag-exit sa blog na ito ay huwag na po nating dalhin at iwanan na lang po natin dito ang palitan natin ng kuru-kuro.

So eto na umpisahan ko na ang paglathala ng mga sharings ko... speaking my mind and... HOLD THAT THOUGHT - NO MORE!