Should I defend God against President Duterte?

First time I heard about the news, I did not jump into a conclusion. I did not want to judge the president at once. I thought I had to watch the said video first before opening my mouth. Somehow, I got his point. I remember Miriam Santiago also said before that "God is an underachiever"...
This is not new to us..




I am not here to defend God because I believe God does not need me. I am not His lawyer. He is sovereign and can defend Himself if He may. I am also not reacting towards the rejection of my faith. I am used to it. In fact, it is Biblical. Rejection is already a part of my Christian walk. My role is to forgive, pray, and only act according to God's Word.

Now, back to the video....

He was trying to be logical and rational as possible. But some of his comments pronounce his ignorance of the Scripture. It seems that he needs to understand exegesis, which most of us don't normally get a hold of. I myself is guilty of this because I am also not perfect and still in the process of understanding God.

First, some things I have sensed from the President's comments:
1. He thinks God is stupid
He thinks that creating everything perfect and then looking for a way to destroy it was stupidity.
2. He hates Roman Catholicism (so much)
3. His context is influenced by his bad experience with some priests in the past. (Pedophilia)
3. He won't accept that Jesus is God.
4. He believes in God, but that God is not the same God of the RC.
5. The God He believes in is the universal God who takes control of everything in the universe.

"I cannot accept it.. " He said, about God being the creator of a perfect world and then looking for a way to destroy it...

That's the point. The president made a choice. He chose not to accept. And that's exactly the answer- FREEWILL. God created the world perfect and along with that was His gift of FREEWILL.

And yes. He already knew it's (sin's) going to enter the creation because He is omniscient. Was that His intention? No. He just knew it will happen. His intention is not to destroy us but to restore us and make us reconciled to Him. Why? Because He loves us. Though we abused His freewill, He still loves us. He still made a way to redeem us though we don't deserve it. That's grace.

Angels failed. Humanity failed. All because of PRIDE.
Does it make Him a failure God? No.
Nothing is beyond repair to Him.
He has made a way through Jesus.
God came to earth to identify with us so as to reach us and save us.
Man to man.
This is INCARNATION.

His act of incarnation is the  TOTAL OPPOSITE OF PRIDE.
He HUMBLED Himself down to make sure we have a way to heaven.
And that only way that was made was Himself, Jesus Christ.
His humble work on the cross destroyed pride,
which Adam and Eve struggled with in the Garden of Eden,
and which also brought 1/3 of the heaven's angels with lucifer now satan,
 to eternal condemnation.

I understand Pres. Duterte wants to rationalize things.
All of us may come to such faith crisis.
But no matter how we try rationalizing God, we cannot.
God is God.
Well at least with History (His story), we can prove that Jesus existed.
With common sense we could prove that General Revelation makes sense.
But to totally explain God is impossible otherwise, He is not God anymore.
I may sound like an agnostic but I believe that God came to earth to reach you and me
in the flesh.

Then again, it is up to us whether we accept Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross for us. John 1:12 says God will give the privilege to be called His children to those who accept Him.
And John 3:16 says that God so loved the world and gave His only begotten Son to redeem it, and that only those who believe in Him will not perish.

We are all sinners. We need a savior.
And as per the Word of God, that's Jesus Christ.

We all have a one and a half kilogram brain in our head.
And I guess that is not enough to boast about rationalizing God.
Seek the truth.
Humble down.

Nobody is accurate enough when it comes to Theology.
But time will come, that God will explain everything.
Are we ready?

WHEN YOU ARE NOT THE ONE CHOSEN

 WHAT WILL YOU DO IF YOU WERE JUSTUS IN THE BOOK OF ACTS?

So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen 25 to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.” 26 Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.

I’ve read the first chapter from the book of ACTS today and got hooked to the personality of Justus whose story in the Bible lasted for just 4 sentences. He was the one who got “rejected” when Matthias was chosen over him to replace Judas Iscariot and complete the 12 apostles again.

It was like a prestigious search. Being one of the 12 apostles, whom Jesus chose during His 3-year ministry, was really something. And two candidates emerged in that search: Matthias and Justus. Why them? Well, perhaps they were the elders who have shown great commitment and passion in the ministry of the Lord Jesus then. The two were chosen by the apostles and the congregation. Well it should’ve been one but why two? I guess the Lord allowed to have two options to teach us something.

credits: Bible Encyclopedia

Matthias was chosen over Justus by God through casting lots. Justus was not rejected by the congregation. It was that, He was not chosen by God to complete the 12. We can imagine what happened during that “big reveal day” and see how Matthias and his family celebrated and how Justus and his family faced the “defeat”, if they called it that way. After that, we have never heard of Justus again.

So I wondered, what happened to Justus after knowing that God did not choose him? Did he continue being compassionate to the Great Commission of Jesus Christ? Did he hate God? Did his family got embarrassed and move away from the church? No one knows.

Real Talk: If I were Justus, my initial reaction would be embarrassed and I will feel bad because my family were there too. When rejection strikes, I feel like I can bear the shame but knowing that my family is also hurt, I am more hurt. There will be a part of me that will ask God, “Why not me?” and I would struggle with that question for a long time.  Nonetheless, in my present status as a believer and child of God, I’d say that it will not last for a long time. I have faced a lot of rejections in my life but I believe I have already mastered the dealing of such situations. Yes it is painful! But God knows best! He will not put you in a position unless He knows it is really for you. You have a perfect place and purpose and only Him knows that.

Some things that you want to have may just slip away from your hands. You almost got it but it turned out that it’s not meant for you. Don’t  worry because the Lord is faithful. He knows you. He knows what’s best for you. Trust Him. I understand it is painful. Go ahead and be in the process of that pain. But do not dwell in the pain for a long time because you may miss a lot. Try your best not to focus on the rejection or frustration, but focus on Him and His great plan instead. He might be presenting something to you but you lost it because you were focused on the pain.

For whatever happened to Justus, I hope he still continued in faith. I hope he celebrated with Matthias that time. I hope he was resilient after knowing that God did not choose him to be there by believing that the Father has a greater plan for him. 

I believe God had a huge plan for him, it’s just that, being one of the 12 apostles was not for him.

When we were young..

suddenly remembered someone in this song and it makes me sad! lol... moving forward tho!
#NoSleep

"Dalamnya Kasih Mu Bapa" & "Mujizat Itu Nyata" (Smule)

I don't know why I had this desire to record Malay songs this morning in spite of virtually no sleep at all. I apologize for the voice -_- I believe it's still about God tho ^_^ Praise Him!

Smule session

    

Got A Rose from a guy after a long time.

Sya:  sayo na po (inaabot ang isang rose)

Ako: (gulat)

Sya: hingi lang po ako pangkain

Ako: (nyawt)

Ako: anong pangalan mo?

Sya: Pablo

tapos umupo kami pareho kwentuhan hanggang sa mapunta ang usapan

sa buhay buhay. nasunugan daw sila Pablo, akala ko nung una baliw sya,

ok naman sya kausap. He's coping everyday for his foods at kung

saan saan lang natutulog. Pero what's inspiring about him is 

his faith in God. That time na nagkausap kami he accepted Jesus Christ

in his life and sabi nya ok lang sya kahit ganun ang kalagayan nya.

Sabi ko di ka ba nagagalit kay God, sabi nya hindi, kasi God Sya...

teary- eyed... pero blessed, grateful to meet Pablo.

God bless him. Let's pray for the many PABLOs in the world!

(photo credits to Maureen Jularbal - akalain mo na capture ang moment na to!)