The essence of "Filipino Pride"

People around me especially in the case when something significant has happened on a certain Filipino and such that it brings "pride and honor to the country" are highly immortalized and brought a somewhat "Filipino Spirit" that certainly leads to euphoria of pride in our heritage. That we can actually reach great heights as a people and the hope of rising up from the shambles that we are currently into like the "diaspora" of our fellow Filipinos abroad to find greener pastures. As well as the heavy impoverishment of people both in the provinces and in the cities. But it saddens my heart that such concepts are misplaced and a great illusion has clouded these aims. These misplaced pride and hope continually brings us down and is hindering the unleashing of the Filipino's full potential to bare. The point that I'm trying to give here is that the recognition to certain individuals is not bad but we got to be in touch with the reality that these can only be possible when certain effort is being done that resulted to the achievements and success these certain individuals. And is as such, must not be merely praised but these successes but this must also be a point of inspiration for others to emulate a sense of ambition or a sense of looking to oneself as someone that can contribute something that is "good". But let us not put a narrow concept to this issue, as this can have different perspectives of which even I cannot fully discuss and that it would be much as well to narrow it down to the key aspects on this value of "Filipino Pride" and how it has created a cultural dysfunction that I will discuss and hopefully address some ideas that can help in alleviate the ills it brought to our society.First is that the we have the attitude of relying to a particular to someone to resolve our ills, a somewhat "extraordinary hero" that will save or help us in particular problems that we can actually deal to ourselves. This kind of cultural disposition can be heavily be seen in our films like this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1B539459tE

Such attitude attitude that the masses portray in such films somehow puts a reflection of how the Filipino society runs even until this day. This attitude that we are always the "victims" and at some point, we are "helpless" to deal with the ones that oppress us has been detrimental to the growth of our nation as a whole and that the potential of most people have not been used in order, to be able to help themselves to rise to the occasion and do the seemingly extraordinary things themselves. The best example of this problem is that people, specifically the masses tend to always blame the government to the problems brought about to them like poverty and such. As well as demanding to the government to some extent that almost everything is demanded. I do not mean that to demand to the government to help us is bad as that institution is created for the purpose of serving us. The people that run that institution is elected by us and should serve for us. Yet we must take action as a people too, for the government cannot do anything for us and to simply whine on the problems we face do us no good at all. We cannot be the victim always, we must also be in sense, a hero for ourselves and with God, do what we can to go on fighting, a certain person once said to me, "It is for us to work(in righteousness) and for God to help".

Now what of the pride that we cherish as we cheer to certain individuals that brought honor for our country by doing things that make the Filipino people "shine into the limelight"? It seems hypocritical when we say we are proud of being a Filipino while its majority suffers from many things like poverty, cultural dysfunctions and such that what this writer can say a product of misconceived pride as a Filipino. I can see many things to be proud of as a Filipino, but I am appalled that this "pride" has been so misplaced and that it costs us dearly as a people. To have a sense of pride should be correspondent with doing things that we can actually be proud of and with His help, we are able to achieve something great as a people. We cannot confine this pride to a certain portion of our fellowmen but we must also earn it by developing to ourselves potentials that will help in rising from the problems that we face. As what I have read in the Scriptures, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."---James 2:26; This is very much we can parallel to the general situation of the country. Do away with a few of our kababayans that truly earned their pride for what they do, it is now our time to earn it for ourselves but we cannot forget that out of all that we do, we should ask Him for guidance to do be able to succeed and earn that pride that we can truly cherish for ourselves as a people. Better yet call the pride that we can glorify to Him on what He has done for us. For I believe in what the Scripture has written, "Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches. But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD."--- Jeremiah 9:23-24; Let us now then go forward and redefine the "Filipino Pride" for the better.

BlueStreak Suggests

This is just a short post as I would also like to share of you on some information regarding spirituality being discussed in a Biblical manner.

http://esoriano.wordpress.com/2011/07/27/salvation-outside-the-true-church-2/

Hopefully it would be of interest to you as the links title conveys a message about salvation outside the true church written in the Bible. Hope you'll like it

Tagalog-Bisayan tribalism and the proposal for independent Republics by Visayas and Mindanao Islands Part 2

Now to resume to our discussion, I will note some of the implications along with the factors and issues that would come up if the proposal of an independent republic in the South of our country as well as the question of what will happen if such ever a proposal will materialize and eventually will secede from the Republic? Putting it into order is that the proposal in its process will meet serious criticisms especially from the north as such an event never happen in our nation's history yet there will be also opponents at the very parts of Visayas and Mindanao. Issues that would cover would be what form of government would the new nation adapt? Are the people of the islands (Visayas and Mindanao ready? or better yet ask do the people of these areas want to secede from the central government in Manila and establish a nation independent from it? These are just some of the questions that we have to deal with and in reality I can only speculate and cannot really determine the exact answers to such questions. The proponents proposed for a federal government that is similar to what the form of government the United States has. Other groups propose the parliamentary form and others propose a mixture of both.

Now concerning about the question about the people or at least to say a majority of the populations of both islands ready for such and do they even agree with it. Some said that the proposal is absurd and just a tactic of some unscrupulous government leaders in those areas to simply threaten the central government to show their influence and some even thought of the proposal as a ploy created by the central government itself to divert from certain issues. This was stated here:

http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/manila-bulletin/mi_7968/is_2005_July_9/mindanao-republic-plan-endorsed-criticized/ai_n34052357/

Nevertheless it is just an opinion of certain groups. What matters is that do the people of Visayas and Mindanao desire such to secede from the Luzon? I can only suggest that a census if possible can be done in the islands if the majority of the population actually desires to secede as I believer it is not just the say of certain groups or just a single person to make such a decision but we must educate the population about such a proposal and then ask about what do they think of it and this can be done by a population survey or better yet through the representatives of respective parts of the islands if they are for secession or not.

Factors would include the cultural outlook of those residing in the Visayas and Mindanao which can be asked in this question, do they consider themselves Filipinos or Bisaya? or whatever they consider as their ethnicity. This must also be considered. Also do we have the leaders to take charge to such proposals and materialize such proposals? I asked such a questions as leaders are necessary to formulate and process the proposal such as the Constitution of the proposed republic, Its national boundaries and others such as what would be the civil and military institutions that the new republic will have.

The proposal will also have implications if it ever comes to consideration and much more when the actual separation and the establishment of the republic ever occur. I can speculate some of the possibilities and probabilities that might happen. One would be the instability of the Philippine government as the proposal of such will create a political rift in a way that the central government in Manila(otherwise called Imperial Manila) will find the means of killing the proposal as the Luzon Island is heavily dependent on Visayas and Mindanao on some of the economic resources and if a proposal would ever be realized, they will lose these resources will have substantial effects to Luzon's sustainability. Also the central government also is dependent on the manpower of the south and the south's geographical advantage. like in the Visayas it has more potential strategic ports to offer than Luzon along with Mindanao's slightly larger area that is potential for urban development. There is also the FACT that Mindanao has a larger agricultural land to provide foodstuffs and agricultural produce than Luzon and this would hit hard the inhabitants of Luzon as the food supplies that was once is bought under a domestic manner, would be imported instead which will likely make it more expensive to buy than if it was domestic. A possibility of war can even occur in the scenario as the north will possibly not just stand idle to let the separation just happen. An example would be the Sudanese civil war that eventually led to the formation currently the world's youngest nation which is South Sudan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Sudanese_Civil_War

To wrap up my post, I would hope for you to read this link to at least get more perspectives concerning the proposed Mindanao Republic.

http://kalilintad.tripod.com/referendum.htm

comments are most welcome and if you can share also other relevant sources concerning the topic or any discussion concerning it, please do comment and post your links. I would welcome anyone who will discuss things relevant to the topic.

Tagalog-Bisayan tribalism and the proposal for independent Republics by Visayas and Mindanao Islands Part 1

My country is under a serious crisis in these times. Much has happened of its rich history from being a colony of three foreign masters arranged in order which were the Spanish, the Americans and the Japanese. and by the year 1946, we become a republic well in reality we were once a republic when a certain general named Emilio Aguinaldo, declared the independence of my country in1898 yet it was sold to the United States by our first colonizer, in reality we would have put up a better fight as a nation against the American aggressor yet the surrender of the republic's first and last president allowed the quick disintegration of the first republic. Why do I talk about such? It is due to the reason that the focus of leadership of that republic is in the north that comprises the island of Luzon. Even since the Spanish times the focus of power was focus on the island and thus the term Imperial Manila came to being (as our country's capital is Manila). Then on to both the American colonial era and in the brief Japanese occupation of the country, power was always focus on Manila. From then on and until now, much of the political power was focus on Manila and it has a detrimental effect on the other parts of the country and specifically the areas of concern is the Visayan Islands and the Mindanao Island. The bias of power also created a cultural impact on the nation some examples would be the Tagalog and other ethnic groups of Luzon looks down on the Visayans as inferior beforehand and much more as the focus of governance is on Luzon. This in effect created one of the major cultural problem that continues to greatly affect the country which is ethnocentrism which is a sort of tribalism that plagues our nations progress why do I say this?

I'll give you an example, in an election especially the national elections. Ethnic groups like the Ilocanos prefer to vote on candidates that is of the same ethnic group without considering other factors on voting their candidates like track record, platforms and ideas that the candidate has. Such has continually created a biased and a status quo that is happening today and in which is a contributing factor to the "trapo politicians" that also plagued my country's political system. Again, as I have stated that the power is focused on the Luzon Islands,the tendency is that there is a bias those in power to put welfare and development in Luzon more than the other islands. Not only those are evident in the political arena but also in other fields like the media, the businesses and others. The Visayan Islands and parts of Mindanao is home to the biggest ethnic group of my country which is the Bisaya and also a couple of different ethnic minorities like the Manabo and the Tausugs. There are more to explain the disparity yet I believe these examples are enough to allow you to see the disparity and the focus or bias of those holding power most of all political in Imperial Manila.

Recently some groups like these is http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nasudnong-Bisaya/141304119279410,http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=284982 has made proposals to create an independent republic for the Visayan ethnic group as well as a Mindanao republic. And not so long ago that a certain politician stated that a Mindanao will separate to the rest of the country because of the worsening political crises that was transpiring in Imperial Manila during the time http://blogs.sunstar.com.ph/citizenwatch/2005/07/08/were-not-sinking-yet-davao-city-mayor/. Such proposals somewhat is interesting as this would allow the islands self-determination to rule for itself and eliminates the monopoly of power of Imperial Manila on the respective islands yet there are certain implication,factors and issues to consider on such a proposal. This will be tackled on the part 2 of my post.

How to keep a family intact part 3

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But there are brothers and sisters who do not care for each other. There are siblings who, because of money, parcels of land, and inheritance, bring each other to court. In our group, we do not let that thing happen. The brethren in the church are not supposed to bring each other to court; but most especially if you belong to the same family. If in a family of five exists divisiveness, how much more will you ever understand one another if there are already one hundred in the group. If understanding is not attained in a small group, much more in bigger groups? The family is a model of the church, because a church is considered a family, or a household, of God. Let us read I Timothy 3:15—

“But if I tarry long that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”

The house of God is the church of God. A household is made up of members. Who comprises the household? Ephesians 2:19 says—

“Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints, and the household of God.”

The church is being considered as a “household of God”. And the brethren in the household of God should love another.

If there is one thing that I can brag about our group, it is about the love that our members have for each other. Our brethren do not bring each other to court. We do not allow that thing to happen. If the brethren in the flesh should care for each other, the more should the brethren in God do. That is why in our group, we do not let our less fortunate brother die of hunger in the streets. We look after them. That is a doctrine of Christ.

A household is parallel with the church; and the church is referred to as the household of God. The ruler of a household is likewise likened to a caretaker of the church. In I Timothy 3:5, it says—

“For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?”

If a man does not have the capacity to manage his own household, how do you expect him to manage the church of God? Therefore, the ability to manage the church is manifested in the way a man manages his own home. This is the reason why the church is compared to a household. Both need a systematic management. And to attain that, the love of the family members for each other is a must. The parents should always keep a close tab of their children; they should find time for their children. Unfortunately, there are parents who do not have time for their children. Sometimes, they are not even aware that their children have been loitering in the streets. My heart breaks every time I see very young children selling sampaguita garlands in the streets. Some of them are begging for alms from passers-by. If I only have the money, I will adopt all of those children. How dare the parents of those children are letting those kids beg for alms? Apparently, the children are the ones working for their parents, which is contrary to what the Bible teaches. II Corinthians 12:14 says—

“… for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.”

In other words, the parents are the ones who should support their children, and not the other way around. Actually, one particular church leader in Metro Manila sends his “children” out and let them beg, while he is inside his palace, simply waiting for their remittances. I even heard that a week is not enough to count his weekly collections. This is also true with the other pastor often seen in Quirino Grandstand (in Luneta Park). When he asked how much their collection in a given week was, he said that he didn’t know because they were not through yet counting their collection for the previous week. Can you imagine the huge amount of money that pastors make? They enrich themselves at the expense of their members.

In a household, especially in a household of God, it is not the children who are supposed to earn for their parents. The parents are the ones tasked to work and earn for their children. In the household of God, the responsibility is vested on the shoulders of the parents. It is the responsibility of the mother and the father to feed their children. However, the moment the children have grown old, the responsibility is transferred to the children. When that time comes, the children will now be tasked of looking after the needs of their parents. This will be their turn to show their indebtedness and gratitude to them.

In maintaining a family, you need to have love, care, and understanding. You need to be selfless. But of all these, the most important requisite is love because if there is love, all the rest follow. One song says, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” Actually, you do not really have to say you are sorry because even before saying “sorry” you are readily forgiven. If only every family would possess the holy love, or agape, then, no problem would arise. Every time you are seduced by your pretty secretary, you would always be reminded of God’s commandment – love your wife. Do not show any interest in somebody else’s wife. The wife should do the same. Because you love your husband, you will never even entertain the idea of trying another man. Stick to each other. That should be your policy from the very beginning. Never play around! The moment you try playing around, there would be a big possibility that you’ll forget all about your wife. Later on, you’ll just find yourself doing this thing repeatedly. Before you knew it, you have already become a womanizer.

But if you love your family, you will stick to your wife. God has a promise to a family that dwells in love. Proverbs 3:33—

“The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just.”

God promised to bless the house of the just, and curse the house of the wicked. Do you want to receive God’s blessings? Other people think that God’s blessings refer to material riches. That is not so! Even of you are short of finances, so long as you are leading a peaceful life; that is already a great blessing from God. A peaceful life is a lot better than riches. A house whose inhabitants live in peace is better than a mansion whose inhabitants aim a gun at each other.

The blessings of God will be given to a family who abides by what the Bible teaches. And when God blesses you, you will see that nobody among your children would give you any problem. Nobody would turn out to be a drug addict; nobody among them would be engaged in any trouble, like theft and rape; nobody would be a drunkard. Even if you are financially hard up, you will not experience any problem. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful life? It doesn’t matter if your pocket only has a ten-peso bill. There are people who have lots of money in their pocket but their lives are beleaguered by a number of court cases. The child is involved in drug trafficking; the wife has been caught committing adultery; the son was apprehended in a pot session, etc. Perhaps, if we would be in the same situation, we would even wish for death. It does not matter if you are poor, so long as your children love another, and all of them are God-fearing. God will surely bless your family. Nobody among the members of your family would be afflicted with serious ailments. Should one of them gets sick, would just be simple fever, toothache, headache. When God gives you His blessings, you’ll never want. You may be short of money, you may lack prestige, you may not have earned any college degree, but you have peace of mind and deep within you there is joy. This is how important the word of God is to a household. The word of God should be followed, and when you follow it, you are likened to a wise man who built his house upon a rock. The flood came, a strong wind blew, but the house remained standing. If the word of God prevails in a household, that household would be indestructible. Nobody could break the family members apart, not even the gossip mongers, because it is built upon a rock, and the rock refers to the word of God.

It is always nice seeing a family attending a Christian gathering together. It is always nice to see a family whose members abide by the doctrines of God and of Christ.

We, the members of this congregation, are truly happy despite our lack of money. Many of us are poor; we do not live in cozy houses. However, we know how to help each other. If one group cleans our surroundings, the other group washes the dishes, etc. When visitors come, there is also another group that accommodates them. And they do those things voluntarily because they have seen for themselves how beautiful life is if it is spent in serving God and our fellowmen. And we are very proud of it. We hope that all of us learn how to smile to our fellows; let us give them a warm reception. Let us learn to love God because He created us all. And of course, let us love our family – our wife, our husband, and our children.

How to keep a family intact part 2

continuation...


Nothing in this world stays permanently. Everything passes away. Beauty and earthly wisdom fade; lust and earthly love passes away. That is why, once the love of s husband for his wife fades, he begins to look for a more beautiful woman. After a while, he would tell his mistress to leave her husband and the two of them will live together instead. You see, that is very dangerous! Why? If that woman could afford to cheat her own husband, the more she could make a fool of you. If she finds a better-looking man, she’ll also drop you like a hot potato. There are women who are like that. But if you are wise, if you have a righteous mind, you will never give up your wife for the sake of a harlot. But these things happen because love is absent. But if you are bearing the love that is spoken in the Bible, that love will never fade. This is what I Corinthians 13:4-5 says—

“Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself.”

The family members should understand each other; nobody tries to outdo another. Nobody brags because love does not brag. If only all the members of the family would exercise humility, there wouldn’t be any trouble. Love “is not puffed up; love doth not behave itself unseemly.” The members of the family should respect one another’s right. Wouldn’t it be very nice if all the members of the family would learn to observe all these?

(I Co. 13:5) “… seeketh not her own …”

This verse is right precisely because you cannot find yourself in other people. Do not expect that other people will work the way you do. Do not expect that others can do things the way you do. If you do, you will only end up disappointed, or worse, angry. For this thing not to happen, let love live in your heart. Always remember, he is different, you are different. Perhaps, that is already the best that he could do. So, why be angry? If you love your fellow you will not be angry with him. You would be compassionate with him, instead. Let us continue I Corinthians 13:5-8—

“… is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things; endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge it shall vanish away.”

This is the reason why in I Corinthians 13:13, St. Paul came up with this summary: “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”

Among the three, charity, or love, is the greatest. Therefore, if love is present in a household, envy will not find its way, even if there are 13 children in the family. If the mother bought one of her children toy because he passed in school, the others would not be envious of him. They were also bought toys when they achieve something in school. Instead of being envious, the children will just share each other’s toys.

Most of the time, a child gets envious of his brothers and sisters who had been given a present by their parents. Envy is common among men. But the Bible had taught me that I should be happy instead if the others have the things which I do not have. Why should you be envious? Remember, you are the one who should be giving him of that thing, yet, somebody has done it for you. You have been spared of an obligation, so, why will you be envious? Envy will not do anybody good. A family can find peace when the siblings are not envious of each other. Love should bind the family members together. The admonition is, “. . . put on charity, which is the bond of perfection.”

Do you know that the word “love” is very broad? Sometimes we even misunderstand it. What are we supposed to do if we love one another? What kind of love must we exercise? The love of a child for his parents is different from the love of a wife for her husband. Which love are we going to practice? Definitely, the love for a wife should not be rendered to your daughter. Otherwise, you might end up raping your daughter. And neither should the love for your wife be given to another woman. You would be an adulterer that way. And of course, the love of a child for his parents is another different matter.

However, the Bible speaks of a kind of love that is applicable to all. And this is the holy love, or agape. This is the love that Colossians 3:14 says—

“And above all these things, put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.”

This is the kind of love that is void of hypocrisy. This love is not superficial. This is the love that is not easily provoked . . . this is not envious. It seeks not her own; it is selfless; it is forgiving and enduring. It believes all things, hopes all things, and bears all things. This is the holy love that the Bible teaches. And this is the kind of love that we should give to each other. If you possess this love, you will no longer be annoyed of your neighbors. You would even learn how to love your enemies. No members of the family would quarrel anymore. The husband would love no other woman but his wife, and the wife would not flirt with another man. The parents would love their children, and the children would love their parents in return. If this is the atmosphere that prevails in a family, there would practically be no room for strife. Let us read Christ’s admonition on how we should deal with our enemies. Matthew 5:44—

“But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”

You are not just going to love your enemies, but you should also pray for them. Now, if you are being admonished to love your enemies, the more reason you have now to love your family. But you know, there are people who do not love their families. There are husbands who prefer spending time with their peers instead of their families. After working for the whole week, come pay day they are with their friends – drinking. When they go home, nothing is left of their pay. Apparently, they love their friends more than their family. A husband seems to have forgotten that his wife has long been waiting for his pay because she has to pay so many financial obligations. When her husband comes home drunk, a quarrel inevitably takes place. Hence, the solidarity of the family is threatened.

A husband who loves his wife would readily be worried if he comes home late. He is thinking if his wife is already hungry because they make it a point to eat supper together. That is why he is always in a hurry to come home. I’ve seen this practice from my own parents. My mother and my father always ate together. Actually, they never ate just the two of them. We always ate together, and my father always led the prayer before we start eating.

It is always nice that the whole family eat together. During mealtime, you could feel the love of the family for one another. This is one occasion when members of the family could help each other. One would set the table and the other would wash the dishes. That way, before going to sleep, no plate would be left unwashed in the lavatory. My mother hates leaving dirty plates in the lavatory. My grandmother, on the other hand, was very strict. She didn’t want to see a morsel of food wasted. She used to give us pinch that is equivalent to the number of morsels of food left on our plates.

Anybody who fully believes the doctrines of God could always apply those doctrines in his daily life. The siblings will learn to care for each other. It is but natural that siblings quarrel occasionally but no amount of quarrel could change the fact that they are brothers and sisters. There are couples who only have two children but despite that, these two still quarrel. I came from a big family. We are eight in the family, and I am the seventh. And I am truly thankful to God that until now our family has remained intact. What makes me happier is that all of them are with me in my service to God. Wherever I go, they are also there. This is the reason why I believe that, once a family possesses the kind of love that the Bible is teaching, that family will never fall apart. The husband and the wife will always help and support each other.

How to keep a family intact part 1

This time we are going to study God’s doctrine on how to keep a family intact, such that no matter what happens, it will never be shaken. The devil knows that the family is the basic unit of society. This is why most of the devil’s attacks are focused on the family because he knows that if the very foundation will be shaken, then even the highest stratum of the human society will collapse. The family has become the devil’s favorite target because it is the basic unit of society.

For this reason, God prepares some measures that would safeguard the family for it to remain intact. And, in the Bible, God gives us several tips on how to attain and maintain family solidarity.

Nowadays, one of the biggest problems that beset husbands and wives is that they have lost love for one another. Sometimes, it even reaches a point wherein the husband develops an illicit affair with another woman, and vice versa. They begin to neglect their children. The husband hardly goes home while his wife is also out playing mahjong. As a result, the children loiter with other youths, and later on, they acquire bad habits. More or less, this is one of the factors that give rise to the growing number of the so-called “broken families” in our time.

If you will notice the common scenario today, everybody seems to be always in a hurry. They want everything done fast and easy. A lot of people today are in a hurry to get rich; there are a lot of people who are in a hurry to reap honors. Today, the “no cook” foods and “instant” foods are very popular. You only have to add hot water and, presto, you have a noodle soup. Everybody is always on the move so that they do not even have time to cook anymore. And this is a realization of God’s prophecy in Daniel 12:4. This is what the Lord God told the prophet Daniel—

“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book even to the time of the end: Many shall run to and fro.”

Take note of God’s pronouncement, “even to the time of the end, many shall run to and fro.” They will not walk, they will run. This is a picture of a fast-paced life. There would be great advancement in the means of transportation and communication. For instance, if you are in the Philippines and you want to talk to somebody in Hong Kong, or in the U.S., you just have to dial the number and in a matter of seconds, you are already conversing with him. We are living in a fast-paced society. People are always on the go; everything is now done the easy way. And this poses a threat to the family. That is why we have to be careful. Once the family members begin to forget their responsibilities to one another, when the family members begin to take each other for granted, then the family is on the verge of disintegration. The greatest institution that God established is heading for decay.

It was God who created the family. And because it was made by God, somebody else wants to destroy it. And that is nobody else but satan, the enemy of God. That is why if we do not know how to keep our families intact, it could be destroyed by the devil. And the moment the family falls, everything else fails, including the society. This is what is happening worldwide right now. The problem on criminality has become global. Wherever you go, you see broken homes and street children. Even in rich nations like the US there are also squatters and street children. But the scenario is worse in poorer countries like India and Bangladesh. These countries suffer extremely due to overpopulation. If I am not mistaken, India is already next to China in terms of population. There are about 1.3 billion Chinese in the world (estimated figure only as of July 2005), and next to them, in number maybe, is India. In other words, the decadence of the family has also become a global problem.

For this reason, we are sharing with our fellowmen the values that we have learned from the Bible. It is just bad that these values are not being taught by other leaders of religion. Precisely because they are too engrossed in money-making matters like tithing, love offering, prayer request, covenant partner, etc. Those are the things that keep them busy. They never discuss with their members worthwhile topics like keeping the family intact.

In everything that we do, one of our concerns is to share with other people the things that we have learned from the Bible. Let us now begin our discussion.

In keeping a family intact, it needs to have a very strong foundation. And what is the strongest foundation that a family could ever have? This is what Matthew 7:24-27 says—

“Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the wind blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, and doth them not; shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell and great was the fall of it.”

The Bible said a wise man build his house upon a rock, so that even when the rain came, even it flooded, even the wind blew and beat the house, the house did not fall because it was standing on a solid and strong foundation – the rock.

What does that mean? How can a house be built upon a rock? Christ said, “Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock.” Therefore, the rock, which is the strong foundation of a house, symbolizes the word of God. In other words, the foundation of a strong family is the obedience to the word of God. Let us repeat Matthew 7:24—

“Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built a house upon a rock.”

If the word of God is being fulfilled, then, the family will have a very strong foundation in life. No matter what tempests come their way, the family will remain intact. It will not collapse. An edifice that is built on a big boulder of rock is not readily shaken. The same is true with the family. And we can say that a family is built on that solid foundation if its members do not only listen to the word of God but also obey it. When a father, a mother, and the children are always equipped with the word of God, that family can never be torn apart, because there is a tie that binds the members together. This is what Colossians 3:14 says—

“And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfection.”

Charity or love is the bond of perfection. Love is what makes a relationship perfect. The strongest bond to a family is love – the love of husband and wife for each other, the love of parents for their children, and the love of children for their parents. But why is it that despite the fact that love exists in one particular household, the family still fall apart? It is because the kind of love that exists between the husband and the wife is just an earthly love, or love of the flesh. And this kind of love fades. It may be true that the feeling was so intense when they were younger, but when they grew older, the feeling died down. No wonder we could hear them say, “We are just like brothers and sisters now. We do not sleep in the same room anymore.” For all you know, the husband was saying that because he had grown tired of his wife, who had become so fat due to child bearing. His former passion for her had faded. That is because it was just an earthly love, and this kind of love easily fades. I John 2:17 says—

“And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof.”