Wednesday, February 24, 2021
What’s Blinding You from Seeing Jesus in Your Life?
If any one chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. John 7:17
There was something about the stranger who walked with those two men, which fascinated them. The location was a dusty road that led from Jerusalem to Emmaus. It happened almost 2000 years ago. Jesus of Nazareth had taught the multitudes for three years. He had done some fantastic things. He had healed the lame and the blind. He had taken a little boy’s lunch and then fed a multitude of more than 5,000 men, to say nothing of the number of women and children.
At first, everyone was skeptical. After all, the day of miracles had ceased, so when Jesus first began His work, people watched for the trick. Perhaps the blind man was not really blind, or it was just a big act. But as the skeptics watched, they became convinced, not only by what they saw, but by what they heard, as well. Jesus of Nazareth spoke as no other man had ever spoken. He said things no other would dare to say, and He did it with perfect authority. He made claims such as, “I came from God and now am here” (John 8:42). Again, He said, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). All of those things together caused thousands of men and women to claim Him as the Messiah‑‑the long awaited deliverer.
The two men who walked from Jerusalem to Emmaus that day, long ago, were talking about all of the events that caused them to believe Jesus was the Savior. “Things were going so well,” they said. “Yes, we thought it had been He who would deliver Israel.” But on that Passover, public sentiment, fickle public opinion, turned, and they crucified this Jesus of Nazareth. That is when it all ended for those two. When Christ died, they were through, and with bitter remorse and confusion, they decided to call it quits.
As they walked and discussed these things, a stranger appeared to them and they poured out their hearts. They told how two women had gone to the grave and it was empty, but this they could not believe. The interesting twist to this story begins when Luke (who records the event) says, “As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him” (Luke 24:15,16). But as they walked and talked, the stranger began to explain what had happened in terms they could understand. They invited Him to dinner and suddenly the mystery was over.
Luke says, “When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him” (Luke 24:30-31). It was the resurrected Christ who walked with them, and they knew Him not.
That was two thousand years ago, yet it is still true today. Sometimes it is the impact of 21st century materialism that blinds our eyes and keeps us from recognizing the resurrected Savior. Sometimes it is the aura of “intellectualism” that keeps us in the dark. Sometimes we are so preoccupied with ourselves that we never discover the resurrected Christ. A story so old, yet new every day.
How about your life? Have you discovered that Christ will reveal Himself to you and that He will walk with you through life? It may be that your eyes have been blinded by unbelief and that you have never discovered who He is and what He promises to you. Jesus challenged, “If any one chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own” (John 7:17). “Prove it to your satisfaction,” invites the Savior. Start reading with the Gospel of John and, I can assure you, you will see who He really is.
Scripture reading: Luke 24
https://www.guidelines.org/devotional/whats-blinding-you-from-seeing-jesus-in-your-life/
Palace prays for Doris Bigornia’s speedy recovery
By Azer Parrocha
Malacañang on Wednesday wished ABS-CBN veteran broadcaster Doris Bigornia a speedy recovery after she suffered a heart attack and is set to undergo open-heart surgery.
In a virtual Palace press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque extended prayers to Bigornia, recalling how he knew her long before he was appointed to the Duterte administration.
“Pinagdadasal po natin ang mabilis na recovery ng ating dating kasamahan dito po sa [Malacañang Press Corp.] Dati ko na po kasama ito kahit nung mga panahon na aktibista pa ako, si ABS-CBN reporter na si Doris Bigornia. Doris, pagaling ka (We are praying for the speedy recovery of our former colleague here at MPC. We used to see each other during the times I was still an activist, ABS-CBN reporter Doris Bigornia. Doris, get well soon) and we’re praying for your speedy recovery,” he said.
On Tuesday night, Bigornia’s co-host and fellow ABS-CBN reporter Alvin Elchico announced, with the permission of her family, that she suffered a heart attack and would need to undergo open-heart surgery.
Elchico said Bigornia suffered a heart attack on Sunday night and was rushed to the hospital. He said she is currently in the intensive care unit (ICU).
“Bago po tayo mag-umpisa dahil marami po kasi ang nagtatanong so, nagpaalam po ako sa pamilya ni Mutya ng Masa Doris Bigornia na sabihin po sa inyo, pinapasabi lang po, ang Mutya ng Masa, siya po’y inatake sa puso noong Linggo, papuntang Lunes (Before we start, because there are many of you asking, so I sought permission from Mutya ng Masa Doris Bigornia to tell you that she had a heart attack on late Sunday night),” Elchico said over their DZMM Teleradyo program “SRO”.
He also sought for prayers for his co-host’s recovery.
“Siya po’y sinugod sa ospital at ngayon po’y nasa ICU. Kakailanganin po ng ano, open-heart surgery. So ang pamilya po ay humihingi po ng panalangin, so sa ngalan po ng pamilya ni Doris Bigornia, ang Mutya ng Masa, kami po sa DZMM Teleradyo ay humihingi po ng inyong panalangin (She was rushed to the hospital and is now in ICU. She will need to undergo open-heart surgery. So her family is asking for your prayers. We at DZMM Teleradyo are also asking for your prayers),” he added.
Elchico said Bigornia is conscious and has talked to him through the phone.
Bigornia, known as ABS-CBN’s Mutya ng Masa, just celebrated her 55th birthday last Feb. 17.
COVID-19 vaccine procurement bill up for Duterte signature
Congress has approved a bill that seeks to expedite the procurement of COVID 19 vaccines.
The House of Representatives approved adopted Senate Bill 2057 for that purpose, paving the way for the bill to go straight to President Duterte for signature.
The Senate’s version was adopted during the plenary session Wednesday. This avoids a potentially contentious bicameral conference committee which could further delay vaccine procurement.
The House previously approved House Bill 8648 as its version of the bill.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/24/21/covid-19-vaccine-procurement-bill-up-for-duterte-signature
‘Palawan plebiscite test run for 2022 polls’
The plebiscite in Palawan on March 13 will serve as a test run of the health protocols to be implemented by the Commission on Elections in the May 2022 polls amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Comelec Chairman Sheriff Abas said yesterday.
“Through this plebiscite, we want to see if the policies that we will formulate are effective. Among these protocols are the wearing of face mask and face shield and maintaining physical distancing,” Abas said.
He said they are considering allowing only five voters in polling precincts.
Abas said the poll body is also looking at extending the voting hours to prevent crowding.
The plebiscite to ratify a law dividing Palawan into three provinces – Palawan del Norte, Palawan Oriental and Palawan del Sur – may be held for two days.
Around 500,000 voters have registered for the political exercise.
Abas said the Comelec would regulate the number of watchers that candidates and parties are allowed to dispatch on election day as well as the counting and canvassing of votes during the 2022 polls.
“If the pandemic is not over by the time we hold our elections, we will certainly be implementing health and safety protocols,” he said.
https://www.philstar.com/nation/2021/02/24/2079920/palawan-plebiscite-test-run-2022-polls
Pagbuo ng bagong distrito sa Caloocan City, suportado ng ilang senador
Jeffrey Hernaez, ABS-CBN News
Suportado ng ilang senador ang panukalang hatiin sa dalawang legislative district ang unang distrito ng Caloocan City.
Ayon kay Senator Cynthia Villar, makatutulong ang House Bill 7700 o “Act Reapportioning the First and Second Legislative District of the City of Caloocan into Four Legislative Districts” na mabigyan ng patas at sapat na representasyon ang lungsod sa Kamara.
“I am in full support of this legislative measure that seeks to reapportion the first and second legislative district of Caloocan City into four districts," ani Villar.
Nagpahayag din ng pagsuporta si Senator Joel Villanueva na co-sponsor at co-author ng panukala.
Ayon sa may akda ng panukala na si Senator Francis Tolentino, mas matitiyak na maibibigay ang mga pangangailangan ng mga residente kung madadagdagan ng isa pang distrito ang lungsod.
"The population of Caloocan City is projected to increase to 1,699,908 in 2021, yet the number of legislative district in Caloocan remains at constant 2 representatives, Mr.President, which poses major challenges in the delivery of public services. Reapportioning the city will ensure that the voice of our constituents in Caloocan is heard and their needs are addressed," aniya.
Sa kasalukuyan, sa dalawang distrito lamang nahahati ang Caloocan City. May 70 barangay sa unang distrito habang 118 na barangay sa pangalawang distrito. Sa mahigit isa at kalahating milyong populasyon ng lungsod,75 porsyento nito ay nasa unang distrito.
Kung maisasabatas ang panukala, hahatiin ang unang distrito sa dalawa, 11 sa mga barangay nito ay ililipat sa mabubuong ikatlong distrito.
Dahil dito, magiging apat rin ang kinatawan ng Caloocan City sa Kongreso.
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
The Difference in Communication Between Men and Women
Simply let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No”; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. Matthew 5:37
I was almost asleep when my wife exclaimed, “It’s obvious that a male wrote this book,” as she closed the book, one a publisher had asked us to evaluate. My wife, Darlene, is pretty low-key and cuts an author quite a bit of slack for individuality. “Why do you say that?” I asked. “Well,” she explained, “what he says is good, but it’s factual, and cut and dried. There’s no emotion or feeling in what he writes.” And with those observations she clearly defined one of the big differences between men and women.
Darlene is an author in her own right. She writes for women—and good stuff, too! I often say that she writes “gourmet style,” agonizing over paragraphs, often in the middle of the night, while I tend to write more “fast food style.” Every Wednesday I write the five commentaries you hear on Guidelines.
Her comments emphasized the point that men go straight to the bottom line while women enjoy the journey that takes them there, through the emotions and feelings—the “he said, and then I said” details that are important to women but not necessarily germane to the final outcome.
Men stress facts and decisions, but women are equally as interested in the development of the plot, the blow by blow, word for word description of the encounter that leads to the bottom line, and that is one of the reasons why men think they have communicated with a woman who shrugs her shoulders and says, “No you haven’t!” “But I told you want happened,” he says. But she honestly doesn’t think so. The “he said; she said” dialogue that you think is redundant, Mister, is what leads to intimacy in a relationship, instead of the “slam-bam-thank-you-Ma’am” style that you use with the janitor or taxi driver.
Today there is a growing data base of scientific information that explains why all of this is true. This includes how DNA is different, how brains process information differently; and how male and female brains are even physically different. Yet vast numbers of men, and not necessarily just those in their 20s who are striving to understand the women in their lives, couldn’t care less about the developmental structure of our brains. They just know that men and women use the same language but don’t communicate the same way.
What’s the solution to all of this? Consider the following suggestions that I will give without much elaboration.
For both men and women—set the stage for communication. It never works when you are under stress, when you are extremely busy, and when one or both of you are physically exhausted. That’s when you hurl angry words at each other which become missiles of your discontent rather than your attempts to bridge the differences between you.
For men—realize that your wife can live without the new car, the latest fashions, and the trip to your favorite resort destination. She can live without all kinds of things, but if your marriage is to be healthy, you have to communicate. Understand it means something different to each of you, and realize that you can effectively communicate. Excuses aren’t satisfactory, and the longer you take to learn how to do it, the more damage is going to be done to your relationship.
For women—when you say, “My husband just doesn’t get it!” you are right, but there are reasons for it. He’s not difficult or obstinate or dense. He doesn’t pick up on the non-verbal signals, the importance of registering your sighs on the discontent meter or what your raised eyebrows are trying to say. That means you’ve got to tell him in such a way that he does understand.
Charles Dickens, a man whose own marriage was miserable, advised, “Never close your lips to him to whom you have opened your heart.” Good advice in every generation.
Scripture reading: Proverbs 17:1-9
https://www.guidelines.org/devotional/the-difference-in-communication-between-men-and-women/
No to splitting Palawan into three provinces; strengthen LGUs instead
On March 13, a plebiscite will be held in Palawan to decide whether it will be split into three provinces: Palawan del Norte (Northern Palawan), Palawan Oriental (Central Palawan), and Palawan del Sur (Southern Palawan).
Republic Act No. 11259 was signed into law by President Duterte on April 5, 2019 to provide for the holding of such plebiscite.
According to local activists and NGOs supporting the Save Palawan Movement (SPM), the division of Palawan would not only open the island’s extensive natural resources to potential mismanagement, but would also allow extractive and destructive industries, such as large-scale mining and plantations, to take root and destroy even further the island’s rich ecosystem.
Palawan, also known as the Philippines’ “last frontier,” is well known for having some of the richest biodiversity in Southeast Asia. For this reason, the entire island was declared by Unesco as a “Man and Biosphere Reserve.” The island is home to some of the oldest trees in the southern hemisphere, more than 200 endemic species and more than 100 endangered species, according to the IUCN Red List. Palawan is also home to the indigenous Tagbanua, Pala’wan, and Batak peoples. In fact, the island is sometimes referred to as “the cradle of Philippine civilization” as evidenced by significant archaeological discoveries made there.
Jose Alvarez, the governor of Palawan, known for his aggressive approach toward intensive use of natural resources, claims that dividing Palawan into three provinces would speed up the delivery of basic services to residents and further boost the provincial economy.
But SPM and other NGOs such as the Coalition Against Land Grabbing firmly believe that the planned division of Palawan is totally an unnecessary measure and a major step back from the real development needs of the province and its communities. The NGOs in Palawan have no doubt that RA 11259 is the product of a strong political lobby staged by the provincial government and its allies in Congress and the executive branch. SPM believes that the measure contradicts many important provisions of the Constitution pertaining to public participation and consultations, the empowerment of local government units for good governance, and the principle of sharing of proceeds from the national wealth. The planned division is not a development agenda as its proponents want the public to believe, but is instead a direct attempt at gerrymandering.
SPM and those opposing the splitting of Palawan believe that this:
1) is not the appropriate answer to the existing issues of weak governance, corruption, and natural resource use in the province, and that this is mainly motivated by partisan political concerns;
2) will only aggravate the threats and challenges already facing the environment and further expose the vulnerability of poor communities to the harsh impacts of environmental destruction and climate change;
3) will entail huge costs in creating three provinces as well as holding a plebiscite. At the end of the day, taxpayers would be the primary bearers of such costs.
Palaweños never asked for their province to be split. Rather than division, SPM and supporting NGOs are asking the government to focus instead on empowering the local government to strongly implement wildlife laws, the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (RA 8371) for indigenous peoples’ ancestral land recognition and demarcation, and a sustainable management of natural resources. Rather than splitting the province into three, the local government should be strengthened down to the municipal and barangay levels.
Coalition Against Land Grabbing (Philippines)
calgpalawan@gmail.com
Monday, February 22, 2021
How to Be Content in a Materialistic World
Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15
“It began as a simple, or simply terrifying, pledge taken by a small group of friends feeling overwhelmed by all the things in their lives,” writes Elizabeth Weise. She explains, “Over a potluck dinner two years ago, they made a pact: Buy nothing new except food, medicine and toiletries for six months.”[1] When a major newspaper did a feature on the unique experiment, the idea exploded. In a matter of a few weeks more than 700 people from countries as diverse as Japan, the Philippines, and Brazil have put their names on an Internet list to do the same thing.
“The original group named itself the Compact after the Mayflower Compact, a civil agreement that bound the Pilgrims to a life of higher purpose when they landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620.”[2] The group that got together over a potluck dinner and decided that enough is enough and committed to the experiment weren’t necessarily trying to make a statement about consumerism, or how to save the world, or do something about global warming. But they acknowledged that they were fed up with the pressure to have the latest and the most expensive, measuring the success in their lives by the junk piled in their garage and the newest electronic stuff or fashion.
They wanted to simplify their lives. A French teacher, Rob Piccioto, one of the original compact signers, said, “It saved us time because there was less time spent shopping. We still buy groceries and go to the drugstore, but we don’t go to Target on a Saturday–which was a ritual before, just to see what the sales were.”
Vast numbers of people, the world over, registered disagreement with the blatant commercialism that confronts us today every time you pick up a newspaper, turn on your television set, or pick up a magazine.
Simplifying their lives meant different things to those who took the pledge, but they were all striving to accomplish the same thing. For some it meant buying the clothing they needed at a second hand or thrift store, having shoes repaired instead of trashing them out in favor of a new pair, planting a garden, or using washable hand towels instead of buying paper towels. It was an amazing life-changing endeavor that was a choice, not a situation forced upon them by a lack of resources.
Some backslid and caught themselves buying new sunglasses or something they couldn’t find second-hand, but most have adapted to a lifestyle of general simplicity, one that they feel is more genuine and authentic, to say nothing of its being more practical.
For Christians, a lifestyle of simplicity has always been part of authentic faith. Jesus said, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). He spoke eloquently about how the God who sees the sparrow fall from the sky will meet your needs. He set the example, living out a lifestyle of simplicity. He never owned property. His only possession was a seamless garment that Romans soldiers cast lots for at His death, but even in death He borrowed another man’s grave,
That philosophy and lifestyle was part and parcel of the mindset of the early church, that lived out their belief that more is not better. Many, in fact, gave away their possessions, vowing a life of poverty to serve God. In the U.S., Quakers and Shakers adopted the same kind of simple lifestyle, sharing their resources, helping each other, living as close to the earth as possible.
The path less traveled includes learning to say no to commercialism, avoiding the mall, making do with what you have, and sharing with others. Simplify, simplify, and simplify some more is the path to contentment in a materialistic world.
Scripture reading: Proverbs 13:7-17, The Message
[1] Elizabeth Weise, “USATODAY, March 23, 2006, March 26, 2006, D-1.
[2] Ibid.
https://www.guidelines.org/devotional/how-to-be-content-in-a-materialistic-world/