Al Ain Aerobatics 2008 Up Close

On January 24 to 27, 2008, the annual Al Ain Aerobatics show was held at the Al Ain International Airport. My tres Marias (3 daughters) and I were so fortunate enough to have watched the show up close at the grandstand.

Me and my kids, and I believe all spectators at the grandstand, enjoyed the display of talents from the hobbyist of miniature planes to the professional aviators and acrobats participating the event.

One of my favorites was the performance of the French aviators and the two lady acrobats. The lady acrobats positioned themselves atop the two-winged plane. The ladies were tied to their waist a cable for safety purposes. No matter how many cables are attached to their bodies, their performance was still so dangerous.

As the pilots maneuvered the planes according to a patterned routine, the two lady acrobats were also performing some choreographed moves. As the plane moved up and down and turned upside down, people at the grandstand were holding their breath. Aahhs and oohhs, as well as applauses enveloped the grandstand

The climax of the French performance came when the two planes flew one on top of the other as the top plane flew upside down. As they flew closer to the grandstand, the distance between the two planes inched closer and closer until the two lady acrobats touched hands. A loud applause followed.

The finale was so spectacular. It was a dynamite show. As spectators are watching two planes flying toward each other head to head, suddenly a set of dynamite was detonated creating a loud explosion. The explosion was so loud and deafening. But, when the sound of the explosion died down, I noticed that the cries from small children that came out of fear was even louder.

It was such an unforgettable and explosive experience indeed. Thank God for blessing us with friends who are so generous enough to share us the pass going to the grandstand.

Nothing But The Blood

"Nothing But The Blood" is one of my favorite Christian song that is included in the album of Matt Redman entitled Facedown.

The song reminds me of the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ 2000 years ago. What a great manifestation of the Father's love towards humankind.

This is a very clear message to everyone that the blood shed by Jesus Christ is enough for redeeming us from the bondage of sinfulness. For those who believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior is symbolically cleansed by the His blood.

* * * * *

About 2 years ago, I felt so privileged to have attended the concert of Matt Redman held at the Dubai Evangelical Church Center (DECC) Jebel Ali, Dubai.

A busload of brothers and sisters, plus those driving their own cars, of Word International Ministries - Al Ain attended the concert. Al Ain to Dubai is approximately 140 kilometers apart.

Ad Hoc

I am quite sure that most of us are familiar with the term ad hoc. We hear the term attached to the word committee as in ad hoc committee. Or in the fields of information technology, ad hoc connection.

The term ad hoc is actually a latin phrase which simply means "for this purpose." It generally signifies a solution that has been custom designed for a specific problem or task, is non-generalizable, and cannot be adapted to other purposes.

Galatians 3:21-25

"21 Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. 22 But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor."

Remember the story of Moses whom God handed the Ten Commandments or the Law for which the people of God ought to follow in order to be found righteous before Him? In the Pentateuch or the first five books of the Bible we could read from their the different types of rituals that the people of God has to follow in order to gain their righteousness before God. Simply put, they were working their way for their Salvation based on the Laws that God Himself provided them.

Why is that so? Now here comes the latin phrase which I have been speaking of in the introduction. I believe, as confirmed to in my reading of the book of Galatians, that these Law is just an ad hoc solution for the people of God to attain the promised salvation before it is fulfilled by Jesus Christ.

It has been clearly stated in our scripture text that all of us are under sin and the promised salvation is given to those who has faith in Jesus Christ. Before that faith come, the people is under guard of this ad hoc way to salvation and serve as the tutor. And, when that faith has finally come, the people is no longer a tutor, thus the fulfilment of the purposes of the ad hoc law.

What I am simply stressing here is that, since Jesus Christ has already suffered, died, and resurrected about 2000 years ago, therefore we are no longer under the regime of working our way out to Salvation. With our belief in Jesus and His teachings is enough reason for us to be saved from eternal damnation.

My final message to everyone then is to stop doing the traditions and good works which you might have been thinking that by doing these things you can earn your way to heaven. As I have stressed it, these are ad hoc means which was already superseded by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ 2000 years ago. Let us embrace the new and only means to our salvation...Jesus Christ.

Down But Not Out

Thursday, February 7, 2008 felt feverish while in office. By 1 PM, I could not take any longer the heaviness that I felt in my head so I asked my officemate regarding my condition.

Timing was so good that most of the work that I should have done for the period close was all clear except for some few items. These few items can be done on Sunday, the next business day after a Friday and Saturday weekend holidays.

On February 10, 2008 I learned that Etisalat, the internet provider of the UAE blocked the multiply site. Oh my, what have they done? It seemed that they have been blocking sites for reasons that the content of the site violates the cultural, political, or religious practices of the country. What violations are they talking about?

I was not just physically and mentally crippled due to my on and off fever the past couple of days. Moreso, this blocking of multiply by etisalat made me feel disabled in the sense that I have lost one outlet to share my thoughts in words and pictures. I have a great number of photos uploaded for my friends all over the world.

Was I down with all these circumstances? Nah. My spirits are still high up. In fact, in the weakness of my body, I find some moments that God reveals something to me, specially those things that keep lingering on my mind some few days, months and even years back.

This made me keep my resolve into sharing the Gospel of Jesus even more. I want to continue to share through blogging, the Word of God as revealed to me.

With Jesus the rock of our salvation in our hearts, we may be down a moment, but we definitely will not be out.

“Salvation by Grace” vs. “Salvation by Good Works”

It has been four years since I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. The day I accepted Jesus Christ into my life with my faith and belief in my heart as I confess through the salvation prayer, I felt that I was made whole again. Since then, I have tried to make time with Jesus by a regular devotion, though struggling to make it a daily habit at first. Little by little I have widened my knowledge of the awesome Love that only God could give, thereby strengthening my faith in the Lord even more.

In that span of four years, I always encounter two schools of thought which states that salvation can be attained by grace, while the second one say and believe that it is by works. Listening intently to the arguments of both sides, one may say that both sides have a valid argument, hence confusing him or her about this doctrine.

Since my local church, Word International Ministries – Al Ain (WIN-Al Ain) is embracing this doctrine of salvation for the whole month of February, I am also trying to align my study of the ‘Word’—which our church had as a theme the prior month—on what it says about salvation. First thing that came up to my mind is how to reconcile the two schools of thought mentioned early on.

As a profession, I have done a lot of reconciliations. I am a Certified Public Accountant. But, this time, it is not that ordinary reconciliations I have been doing in my line of work. By this extraordinary feat, I need an extraordinary helper. I thank the Holy Spirit for the help and guidance. He is always reliable in terms of finding out the truth in the Word of God.

Let us start here at the right footing. Do you believe that the Holy Bible is the Word of God and its contents to be infallible? If your answer is no then forget reading further. If yes, well and good since my basis of this article is the Holy Bible.

Thank God if you are still reading…so read on brethren.

Who could ever miss this story in Genesis about the fall of man? This is the point in man’s existence after the creation, where a gap between him and God has been created due to the disobedience of Adam and Eve. They sinned against God. As a result, spirit has died as expressed in Rom 6:23 that “the wages of sin is death…” Man had been separated from God. This separation is as great as the distance between the heaven and the earth.

Is God obliged to save you and me from our inherent sin? I do not think so. Nevertheless, He did make a way to save us. How? John 3:16 explicitly declares: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” The driving force of it all is LOVE. Because of God’s love for us, he made a way to save us, though it is not his obligation to do so.

It is so plainly clear that out of God’s love for us, the sacrificial lamb, who is Jesus, was given for free. He asks nothing of value in exchange for the blood of Jesus, hence an act of grace.

Do not stop from there. This is just one side of the transaction. In civil or common law, when the donor gave something to the benefactor, the transaction is never complete without acceptance by the latter. In the same manner, you and me has the right as the benefactor of God’s grace to accept or reject.

Rejection is a simple unbelief of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So, acceptance is the exact opposite, belief in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Is it that simple? No. It is more than just a plain belief that lies on your head. There is what we call faith, another form of gift whose source is God Himself. The Bible clearly says that faith is believing in something you don’t see and that’s exactly what faith in Jesus is about. (Heb 11:1)

Rom 10:9 provides: “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

There you are. It needs you to act as “believing” is a verb or an action word. The action as stated in the Bible is your confession. Not just an ordinary confession, but a heartfelt one; a very personal one. It is just between you and God as no other person who has an x-ray vision to scan what really is in your heart when you utter with your mouth that salvation prayer.

If indeed, your act of accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior is genuine, you will as a result become whole again. Your dead spirit will be revived. This is what Jesus said that to enter Heaven one must be “born again.”

Jesus, the Word who became flesh (John 1:1) is the one being offered by the Father and accepted by a believer, is He not? He is now in the believer’s heart. As stated in Rev 3:20: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”

What then can this Word, who is Jesus can make to a believer’s life? It can change you and make you live by every truth as laid down by the scriptures. And there comes the “good work.” It is a direct result of a believer’s genuine faith.

Let me now state it this way. Good work is obedience to God. We obey Him because we love Him as He loved us first.

The law of cause and effect is the best comparison between these two schools of thought. Good works is just the cause and effect of a genuine acceptance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Twice in a Row

my daughter, third from left at the no. 1 victory stand

my daughter, third from left

On January 26, 2008, I attended my daughters school activity. It was the culmination day for their weeklong sports olympics. The highlight of that day was the colorful presentation of the various grade levels. Parents, teachers and friends cheered their bets in the championship rounds for the track and field, particularly the sprints category.

Twice in a row, the team where my daughter, Katryna, belonged to won the gold medal for the 400-meter relay. I was surprised to see my daughter dashed to the third person to turnover the baton, leaving meters behind her opponents.

It was my first time to attend this activity, as it was already held on a Saturday where I am off from work. In prior years, this activity was held on a Thursday where I have a work.

I would also like to commend the other children from our church, Word International Ministries-Al Ain who excelled in some other categories. Of course, my eldest daughter Sophia, Justine and Sam Santos, and Beula & Jedidah Canas. Sam is the most bemedalled child from our Church. She garnered at least 4 medals, if my memory serves me right.

Praise be to God for these wonderful and victorious kids. These are the next generation leaders of the chuch, who will follow the lead that is began by their parents.

I would like to end this blog by quoting one of my favorite lines in the movie "Facing the Giants" and it says "Whether we win or lose, we have to praise God."