I am writing this 2 days after the 2013 elections with 5 out of the 12 senators that I voted for currently at the magic 12. It’s not that bad if you come to think of it. However there is one specific candidate that most believed to be a nuisance and an attempt to a political dynasty that is in the top 5 of the race. I didn’t vote for her and quite honestly, I am a bit surprised, at the very least, that she even appeared at that position.

But in all this mumbo jumbo going on, I tried to step back a bit and think. I thought, what if God was with me and I can talk to Him about politics in the Philippines and how dismayed I am with the results. How worried I am that my beloved country’s recent economic boost might be short-lived.

There were no audible voice from God. I was hoping He’d give me a holy “I know right!?” statement in all His glory. That alone would give me comfort, knowing that the God of the universe shares the same opinion with me.

Fortunately He gave me more than that. He gave me the assurance of His words. A view of how He generally would think about politics, leadership and how He blesses a nation. It pacified me. It gave me peace. Here are the things I found out:

1. That I am commanded to submit to authority.

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. [Romans 13:13, NIV, emphasis added]

There is something about submission, obedience and respect . God always teaches His people about these things. Maybe because these words pertain to surrendering one’s heart and mind. I think submission, obedience and respect to earthly authorities is but a small training ground for us to submit to a greater and bigger authority- that is God.

2. That He is the one who places people in position.

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. [Romans 13:13, NIV, emphasis added]

From the same verse in Romans, Paul doesn’t get any clearer than this.

3. That he blesses (i.e. continue to bless) a nation that acknowledges Him as God.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance. [Psalm 33:12, NIV]

I believe He will and He does!

4. That He can use unqualified, sometimes, even evil people for His purpose.

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. [ 1 Corinthians 1:27, NIV]

I am not sure if it’s God’s sense of humour to break our mindsets how a person can achieve great things. More often than our pride could take, God uses unpopular/unqualified people to do amazing things. Maybe it is to show to that person that God can use him no matter what? Maybe it is to show the spectators that God cannot be placed inside a logical box? Maybe it’s God’s way of reminding us that faith in Him is mostly unconventional and illogical.

5. That His plans are good and better than mine. His plans will always prevail.

Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. [Proverbs 19:21, NIV]

God is NEVER surprised when things happen. He sits firmly on His thrown knowing all things. This truth gives me peace of mind even if sometimes me and God may not agree with how we think the Philippines could soar to new heights. That is the reason why I call Him Lord. He should be my leader and He should lead even how I think and react towards things that is happening in my country.

God bless the Philippines and God bless the Filipinos.

Those are seldom impulsive occurences. Not unless you have very strong impulsive emotions everyday, that is not what I am going to write about. I’m more interested in “patterns”.

I have known myself to be a person who talks a lot. Maybe because one of my 5 themes is Communicator. Regardless, I do talk a lot. Whenever I feel something I want to communicate, I do it. I share it using words. If I cannot talk, I write. Right now, I like to talk about my passions or to encourage people. I do it all the time, and it shows even in my social media accounts. Like a pattern.

photo from: http://whatislove-2010.blogspot.com/

Patterns are involuntary. Something you regularly do or say, without giving much conscious thought about. Most of us would have patterns of what, and how we say things. Our patterns should somehow “feel normal” to us. For example, one person may find it normal to say “cuss” words, one may excuse destructive criticism as merely an opinion, or a chronic complainer can say she is just “venting out”. I saw some differing psychological studies and opinions about this. Some psychologist see hurtful words that come out of the mouth as a coping mechanism for people.Some say that curse words is “ok” because they help “heal” or “free” people’s emotions. Some agrees to this but concludes that, it has a social cost to it. That people who blurt out negativity will have decreased social acceptance compared to people with “pleasant” speech patterns. I just made random searches and was quite disappointed to find these vague, sometimes contradicting opinions on the subject.

I am thankful that in this age of “gray-areas” there is one source I could go back to, that says things as they are.

It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth. [ Matthew 15:11, NLT]

I don’t think Jesus meant food when He said “come out from your mouth”. I think He was plainly talking about words. The words we speak says a lot about the condition of our heart (i.e. emotions).

A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. [Luke 6:45, NIV]

Like a glass of water. Like a dam- our hearts overflow and the overflow are the words that we say. Specially those that we say often. Patterns.

I really think that we are accountable to things we say, verbally, or even things we say online. I say this because I have seen a lot of social media posts from people that are full of angst, chronic complaining and the like. When people begin to notice them and react negatively to what they say, they immediately go to defensive mode. Posting in Facebook or Twitter is like shouting in a crowded room full of friends and acquaintances. People can react negatively towards what you say. But at least have the boldness to be accountable. The constant tone and topic of what we say creates an illustration of the condition of our hearts.

Tom Holladay, in his book, The Relationship Principles Of Jesus said that like a dam, our hearts store up emotions and it overflows as the words we say. The solution is not to build a bigger dam. The solution is new, fresh water inside that dam. In the same way, hiding our emotions longer would just result in an overflow somewhere else- like our health perhaps? If you think your life sucks and you complain about it every time  it won’t make your life better. Worst, you’re giving people a glimpse of your sucky heart as well! The problem is your heart. If you’re going to give it another day and stay quiet about it, time won’t change your outlook on things, or people or your life.

Your heart needs surrendering. That was what God promised:

And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. [Ezekiel 36:26, NLT]

Sometimes the cure to a foul mouth is a heart surgery. I know, God made that surgery on me- and perhaps still doing some follow-ups today. He can do that to you too. How’s your heart, friend?

He said he wanted an answer that came from the bible. I gave an answer, but please allow me to gather some points on some of the most common excuses we hear (and we use) not to forgive.

1. It’s his/her fault! I think people may have misinterpreted forgiving as admitting to be wrong. Forgiveness doesn’t always mean you are wrong. Actually, it has very little to do with who is right or wrong. It is something you do because you choose not to dwell on the offense and preserve the relationship. Although forgiveness may not lead to full reconciliation, the act alone might set you free from unnecessary  emotional baggages. A friend once told me “it is better to win a friend, than to win a debate”. Don’t let your obsession to be right hinder you to forgive.

2. I don’t want to commit the same mistake again! My mentor once told me, “forgive but don’t forget”. He explained to me that when you forgive, you do not simply let go of the lesson you have learned. If a friend you lent money but has a bad habit of not paying on time, then maybe you should know better next time. Forgiveness shouldn’t force you to deny the offense, you should be able to admit the fact that you were offended, learn from it, and move on.

3. He is abusing my kindness! Last but not the least, this is the reason my friend gave. Some people are just in the habit of offending people! It was surprising to see that even Peter, the apostle was thinking the same thing when he asked the exact same question (see Mathew 18:21).

Peter must have been bragging to Jesus how forgiving he was. You see, during those times forgiving 3 times is the norm. Like baseball and the 3 strikes. Peter was offering up to seven chances for his offender.

But Jesus broke his mindset about forgiveness.

Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. [Matthew 18:22, NIV]

I believe that Jesus wasn’t testing Peter’s arithmetic abilities here. Jesus was saying to Peter to stop counting. If we really believe that God has forgiven, is forgiving, and will continue to forgive us- then what right do we have not to show people the same?

But it is impossible for a human being to have unlimited forgiveness! Indeed! That is why Jesus always broke the “normal” during His time- this is because He wanted to show us that we cannot do this alone. We need His grace. Always.

They say, unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. The person who wronged you may not even know that he did; Maybe you are the only ones who cannot sleep soundly at night?

Whether your reason is among these three I listed or not, I don’t know how deep the wound done to you. But I think if Jesus was here and you ask Him about it- I’ve got a pretty strong feeling He’d still say the same…

Choose to forgive.

I wanted to write this post to attempt to reveal the enemy’s secret. I have always looked down on myself. I have been a person who can always find something to compare myself to with another person to belittle myself. I magnify the other person’s achievements and speak words of discouragement to myself. I thought that looking down on myself is humility. I thought that putting down my passions just because there is someone out there always better than me is being realistic. I thought it will help me avoid disappointments. I was wrong. First, because looking down on myself by comparing myself to others is false humility. Aside from the fact that I am insulting my Creator. True humility means considering others better, but not putting yourself down. By always comparing myself to others, I am essentially saying that everything is about me. Humility, is being selfless. Selfless is not insulting yourself in view of others- it just means you STOP thinking about yourself.

I realised, as I was talking to some friends this week, that many, specially men, suffer from this false humility brought about by the “inner voice” they hear. That inner voice tells them to always compare themselves to others’; tells them to stop pursuing what they are pursuing because they can’t do it anyway- that inner voice’s goal is to have you stuck in indecision, self-pity and eventually hatred. Hatred on yourself and others. That kind of inner voice is a big fat lie.

But, what is the truth? Are we so good then? Are we self-made that we don’t need others anymore? Are we so qualified to do what we have to do? Is your credentials so fit? That’s the direct negative of false humility, that’s false pride.

Thank God I overcame that stage. I was able to find the truth about myself and my identity and knew that I never, ever have to perform and prove something to qualify. Why? Because “Someone” else has already qualified me.

When the inner voice reminds me that I am nothing, I whisper back, “that’s true! But Jesus plus nothing equals EVERYTHING!”

When the inner voice tells me that I am stupid, I whisper back, “that’s true! Sheeps are stupid, that’s why I needed a Shepherd to guide me!”

When that inner voice tells me I am not qualified, and I am foolish, I simply remind him of this:

Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. [1 Corinthians 1:27, NLT]

Finally, in a final attempt to break that inner voice’s  arguments, I may not be the best person in this task, I may be foolish in the world’s standards, but heck, I’d rather be the unfit fool who stepped up and tried than the qualified person who just sat down and watched.

I’m not saying I have fully mastered this technique of talking back to the inner voice of the enemy, but I am sharing these things to you so that we could help each other battle the voice of discouragement. Remember, the devil is the father of lies- but God is the source of all that is true. Try looking to Him for your real identity.

I admire those words. In this age of shortcuts, you seldom see people willing to work hard and earn their way to position. Many people today would rather [over] depend on connections within the org chart to have them seated in positions of power. I’m not talking only about politics here- we see this in the corporate. Profit or non-profit.

There’s just one bit of an issue when aspiring to be the self-made-man that you want to become. You see most of the time, the space in your heart where laziness and mediocrity can never occupy is replaced with something else. This something, creeps in slowly inside – directly proportional to the success one has “rightfully” earned. This makes you feel a little more independent of other people, every step of the way. This something is called pride.

Pride says you owe all of your success to your own hardwork. You won’t realize it at first but slowly you’ll be compelled to let go of relationships that you seem to have no benefit of. You start to covet for credit in the workplace a little too much. You start to spend less time with people below the org chart. And at the end of the day, just before you sleep, you dream of all the success you have and look for somebody below you to compare to. Reciting your achievements like lullabies to make you sleep, and gain enough momentum to drive yourself again to climb higher.

I think that people who says “it is lonely at the top” are the people who have lost connection with those at the bottom. Those who thought that success was a one-man show with no supporting actors and actresses.

It’s sad, because, most of the time, people who hide themselves behind this self-earned success are people who were hurt before. People who, when they were young was always coerced to perform. To prove something. To prove their worth. Some were never accepted, some always criticized by simply being themselves- by people who should have given them unconditional love and acceptance. It created a never-ending cycle of performance driven by a lust for more acceptance and glory.

A cycle that can never be broken until everyone he meets along his path acknowledges him, accepts him, loves him. Or- until Someone, bigger than himself, in fact, bigger than everyone else, starts to pursue him and loves him for who he really is. God.

This God, He knows you. He made you and He wants to let you know that He can accept you. No striving. No performing. No need to be someone else- not even an upgraded version of yourself. Just believe. He offers acceptance and love like no one could ever give:

Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me. [Psalm 27:10, NIV]

If there’s any command from God you wouldn’t want to forget, it’s this: COME.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.[Matthew 11:28, NIV]

Being hungry for success isn’t bad. For all you know that innate drive is a God-given passion. But in your unrelenting hunt for more success, just before pride creeps in, it frees your mind to know that you can always come back to Someone, who can accept you- failures and all. This truth is the One truth that can give you the right motive to press on. The truth that you do not need to push yourself to prove your worth- because He has already counted you worthy. He died for you already. While you were a “failure” in His eyes.

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners [Romans 5:8, NLT]

Needless to say, the film will keep your eyes open to the reality of living in a torn world. Where political, cultural, and religious beliefs seem to draw a line of separation among states. A line that any moment can evolve in a violent act at a breach of an agreement written on paper that keeps both sides “civil” to each other. But that is not what this post is about.

I was also reading Failures Of Leadership: History’s Worst Rulers and How Their People Suffered For It by Frederick Parker. The title says it all. The author enumerates the greatest “flawed” leaderships of all time, from Herod, to Attila, to Genghis Khan and even Mao Zedong. I wasn’t too far from the start of the book when I realized something: I should pray for my country. Actually, I should pray for the leaders of my country.

Watching the movie and browsing the book reminded me that we, Filipinos, are so blessed to have a free country. Of course, we have our own skeletons in our closets but heck, we are in a better place…a comfortable place, if you may. Mahed El Shaffie, head of One Free World International, is quite disturbed about this “comfortable zone”, in the documentary Father Of Lights he said:

“..our world is divided into two zones, a conflict zone and a comfort zone.”

“The more that you are in a comfort zone, the church don’t care…”

He was talking about the persecution of Christians in Muslim countries- one of the many differences that causes the separation I was talking about earlier.

I was bothered. I figured I was busy doing my “Christian routines” week-in and week-out and I haven’t really concerned myself in the things that are happening in the world around me. The simplest thing I could do, right now, in my own time and in my own place is to PRAY. I think prayer is the most underestimated weapon Christians have ever had. It makes sense, we live in a world that says “to-see-is-to-believe”- prayer, at least the most effective ones, is done in secret, not very loudly, and sometimes it’s effects can be unseen for quite a while to the  person doing the praying. But prayer is one powerful testimony of our communication to an unseen God. It is a silent declaration of our faith.

Living in a country with religious freedom ensures us that we can do prayer, anytime, any day without worrying about our life or our freedom. Awhile ago, my office mate made fun of the fact that we Christians pray long, like 4-hours long, for somebody, sometimes (maybe she’s exaggerating)- I laughed. But just now, I realized, that I should be living a round-the-clock prayer life instead of just having a prayer time. I am better off praying for my country, and my country’s leaders every time I remember them. They say evil triumphs because good men do nothing- well, we can do something, a lot of things, actually, but why not start with prayer. Why not start now?

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance. [Psalms 33:12. NIV]

Friend, pray for your country, now. Pray for it’s leaders. Pray that Godly people be elected into government. Pray for peace. No this is not an election campaign. This is a call to arms- arms folded in prayer that is, ready to surrender things to a an unseen, but sovereign God.

Every Holy Week, some of the Cora Indians of New Mexico dress up as demons in colored body paints. Photo and story credit from: http://www.jansochor.com

Our initial reaction was to laugh of course. I don’t know whether we laughed about him not being able to go because of demons or because of his father’s fear. But as we talked, I told him not to come. No matter how ridiculous the idea is, he should always honor his father and with that comes obedience. Besides, he still lives with him. As I was reflecting on this story, I realized that me and my friend was quite unfair and insensitive when we laughed. Because in some way, his father’s fear is true. Most of the time, fear is true because we don’t know the truth.

It’s like the fear of death, the fear of evil spirits, demons… real fears. I am so blessed that some people pointed me towards the truth in God’s word. Because the truth is how we battle the fear of the unknown. I easily recalled this verse:

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” [Joshua 1:9, NIV]

I am assured that my God isn’t dead on Good Friday. We are simply to commemorate what He has done. Sometimes people get too attracted of the superstitious things that they have forgotten the super natural things- that their Jesus, whom they believe in is REALLY risen. Easter Sunday has already happened and He is already seated at the right hand of the Father watching over us.

I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave [Revelation 1:18, NLT]

I told my friend, stay home bro. Who knows, maybe while being at home you might be able to have a chance to share the truth to your dad. That’s my prayer today, that we may be set free from the fears of the unknown and of the superstitious and embrace the truth of His words. The truth that His love, a stubborn love, will NEVER ever leave us alone, as long as we put trust Him.

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.[1 John 4:18, NIV]

I pray that as we receive that love, we receive His Spirit as well. That Spirit will remind us if our decisions and actions are based on fear or based on faith.

for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control [2 Timothy 1:7, ESV]

Are demons roaming around during Good Friday? Maybe. Maybe their roaming around everyday. But take heart, your God has already overcome them- the enemy has been defeated- death could not hold Him down. Put your hope in this Jesus and you will see how He slowly washes out your fear and replace it with His love. Remember His death, but celebrate His resurrection this Holy Week!

Ended up Googling it and found out that it meant You Only Live Once. Urban dictionary humors:

Abbreviation for: you only live once
The dumbass’s excuse for something stupid that they did
Also one of the most annoying abbreviations ever…. – Urban Dictionary entry on YOLO

Interesting, how living one life birthed an excuse for something stupid. Maybe I’m just taking it too seriously. Here’s the irony, whoever wrote Psalms 90, used this phrase before! Yup, even before the internet was invented! He said:

Teach us to number our days,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom. [Psalm 90:12, NIV]

In another version it said:

Teach us to use wisely
all the time we have. [Psalm 90:12, CEV]

I guess this guy knew he’s got limited time here on earth too. He did not, however, make it as an excuse to do things outside of his purpose- but in fact, asked God to teach him to make most of the time he has and live everyday purposefully.

I feel bad, because I just ruined the essence of this meme. But heck, if it made you think twice before doing what you do and opened you up to doing things purposefully- then yeah, #YOLO.

Here’s another meme, about YOLO, not my style but, it kinda’ hits the mark:

image from http://nursing-philosophy.com

For me, the statement that says “Christians are the kindest people” boxes-in and pressures Christians too much. If all people were lined up according to their degree of kindness, I’m sure you’d see a lot of non-Christians in the first few hundreds. If all Christians were lined up according to their degree of kindness, I doubt if I’d be in the first few thousands people in line. Please don’t get me wrong, I pray and I strive to be kind. I really want that in my life. But “I am kind” is not the tag line of my Christianity.

God did not send His Son Jesus on earth to die just so I could be the kindest person in the universe. Maybe seminars or values teachers can do that. Jesus also did some teaching on kindness at some point in His lifetime. But that wasn’t His main goal.

Jesus goal was to make me alive. He did not wait for me to be kind for Him to do that. Kindness is NEVER a requirement for Jesus to die for me. He just had to do it.

I had to realize I was dead. I had to know I needed Him. Luckily for me, I had a Book to tell me that Truth (see Romans 3:23 and Romans 6:23). Of course I wouldn’t read That book without people who genuinely cared for me who shared it with me.

I had to believe He rescued me from death. I had to believe He was real and that He died in my place. Without me believing it; without faith, I can never accept His gift. Without faith, all I have is pride. A sense of pride that I can make it on my own, in this life and the the afterlife. (see Ephesians 2:8-9)

If a friend treats me to dinner or gives me an expensive gift, I’d be kind to that friend. Actually, if my friends does some sort of kindness towards me, I’d gladly repay them with kindness. After all, they’re my friend.

But there is one friend I came to know, that even while I was still His enemy (See Romans 5:8), He loved me, and died for me. (see John 15:13) That friend’s name is Jesus.

This Jesus, because of what He did, deserves to be boss in my life. After all I owe this life to Him anyway. I ought to do my best (despite my constant struggle) to follow His footsteps. Kindness is but one (of the many) by product of a life that truly follows the example of this Jesus. In fact, this Jesus said that we ought to LOVE one another.

If you are a non-Christian reading this, and have been insulted by the statement that Christians “invented” kindness or by Christians who acted as if they are the epitome of kindness but somehow failed, I apologize in their behalf. I too, have become like one of them at some point. We aren’t perfect. Please forgive us.

If you are a Christian who sincerely believes that it is by doing good, being good, being morally correct that we can gain the status of our Christianity then I want to tell you this: God wants to set you free from that thought.

If you are a Christian who believes that to please God is to do as much outreach, pro bono, and ministry work as you could ever squeeze in your schedule, then I want to say this: God is ALREADY pleased with you the moment you believed Him. (Hebrews 11:6)

You are already accepted and loved because of what He already did. That is above kindness.

That might be a very vague approximation, but somehow, author Maloclm Gladwell in his famous book, Outliers…

repeatedly mentions the “10,000-Hour Rule”, claiming that the key to success in any field is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing a specific task for a total of around 10,000 hours – Wikipedia on Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers

Somehow I am glad that excellence is not  microwavable! There are no shortcuts. Giving everyone, including average people like you and me a chance at being excellent on whatever we put our passion in to. A chance.

I say this because at some point in our career, we may reach a point where the work we do becomes too well known for us, like an everyday tedious routine that we do to get the pay check. Then you start to lose focus. Then you commit errors. The work that you were so fired up about when you started became a comfort zone.  I realized it’s easy to talk about excellence when everyone is so pumped-up, like the first phase of a project, or when people are brainstorming ideas, but it takes real dedication and hard work to move that excellence to the middle phase, let alone, until the end phase of that project.

Excellence is not just pep talk idea. It is a verb that you keep doing. And doing. And doing.

Many times in my work, I have missed that part.

I thought I can just do my routine and then just go home until I get paid. I thought that I can build enough momentum for excellence that can sustain me until forever(?). But the truth is that momentum never existed. I found myself needing a little push of excellence every single day.

You can’t build momentum and wake up at 5:00 AM everyday to prepare for work on the dot and expect it to last your lifetime. At some point you’ll have a decision to make. A decision about excellence that you have to act on.

Some say success is just a decision anyway. That is true on the surface. But that decision must be backed up with solid effort. – Dexter Yager on his foreword on the book “The Enemy Called Average” by J. Mason

I had to remind myself just that. That excellence is a verb done every single day. I don’t care if it takes me 10,000 hours or more.

And yes, like me, who at some point took a detour from the path to excellence- change is possible. You can still go back on-course and develop the right attitude.

I have no excuse not to be excellent, I have committed to follow an excellent God. His name is Jesus. I pray that I become a better person compelled by His example.

 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things [Philippians 4:8, NIV]