Wednesday, November 18, 2020
5 Steps To Growing In Grace
Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen. 2 Peter 3:17-18
When Peter came to the end of writing the second book which bears his name, he gave some very practical advice. He ended by saying, "Be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men…" and "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." Notice the two words: guard and grow. That was the practical advice of a fisherman who knew that he had to defend his fishing grounds, but he couldn't spend all of his time keeping others out of what he felt belonged to him. He had to fish. He had to grow.
Some people spend so much time guarding things, they never have time to grow anything. They are the holy defenders of the faith, denouncing anyone and everyone who disagrees with them.
No, Peter was not suggesting that you constantly view everyone with suspicion. He said, "Keep up your guard so that you won't fall away from your secure position," and then added--perhaps as a balance, "Grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
Have you ever noticed that you don't tell a child, "Look, in the next twelve months, I want you to grow five inches and gain 15 pounds. Now GROW." You may set quotas for salespeople and goals for the next year, but your children don't respond to your growth goals. Why? Growth is the result of several factors: proper nutrition, exercise, enough sleep; and then, certainly without their consciously thinking about it, growth takes place.
How do you grow in grace as Peter suggested—no, commanded? Spiritual growth is often the result of adverse situations--no less than real pain which you face, usually situations that you would never choose to go through. Sometimes it's an illness, or a business failure; sometimes it is period of financial or personal turmoil: a spouse dies, your best friend abandons you. You either taste of the sufficiency of God or you wither and die.
How do you know that you are growing in grace, as opposed to just getting on with your life? Growth in grace is reflected in the following:
- You accept circumstances, understanding that God can bring order out of chaos. No, it doesn't mean you like them, but you refuse to give in to despair, asking God to intervene. It's the attitude of Paul, who wrote to the Corinthians saying he forgave "in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes" (2 Corinthians 2:11).
- You are growing in grace when you come to understand that God is sufficient to meet you. You will never test the resources and grace of God apart from hitting bottom. "My grace is sufficient for you," God told Paul. If you listen carefully, you will hear the same echo in your life.
- You are growing in grace when you cultivate a voice of praise instead of complaining about the circumstances. This is what Paul meant when he wrote, "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
- You are growing in grace when you have a desire to do the will of God, no matter what others do. The problem is that at times our will is in conflict with what we know God wills. We want revenge; God says forgive. We remember; God says forget. When you say, "God, I put this in your hands; you deal with it," you are growing in God's grace.
Finally, growth in grace is characterized by a willingness to wait on the Lord, knowing that His timetable is different from yours.
Resource reading: 2 Peter 3:14-18
https://www.guidelines.org/devotional/5-steps-to-growing-in-grace/
Duterte declares Luzon state of calamity after Ulysses deluge
President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday night placed Luzon island, home to about half of the country's 108 million people, under a state of calamity due to a series of cyclones, the latest of which triggered the worst flooding in years and left dozens dead.
A state of calamity will allow local officials to tap emergency funds and impose a price freeze on basic goods.
"Last night I think I signed the proclamation," Duterte said.
The President made the declaration days after he flew to Cagayan Valley region, where weather disturbances and a dam's huge release of water affected thousands of families, some of whom fled to rooftops to escape 2-story high floods.
The disaster council earlier recommended a state of calamity in Luzon after Ulysses, the fifth storm to hit the Philippines since October, killed at least 73 people.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/17/20/duterte-declares-luzon-state-of-calamity-after-ulysses-deluge
Tuesday, November 17, 2020
PCOO extends sympathy to Cebu solon’s family
Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar on Tuesday offered sympathy to the family of former Deputy Speaker and Cebu City First District Rep. Raul del Mar who passed away Monday evening.
Del Mar, who served as congressman of Cebu City’s north district for nine terms since 1987, died in a hospital in Manila. He was 79.
House of Representatives Secretary-General Jocelia Bighani-Sipin confirmed del Mar’s death.
“We pray for the eternal repose of his soul, and for his family and loved ones to find strength in this time of grief,” Andanar said in a statement.
Andanar said del Mar’s commitment to his work will be remembered by the constituents he served during his tenure, particularly the underprivileged.
He also hailed del Mar for helping the growth and development of his district on matters of infrastructure, social services, and poverty alleviation.
Andanar also cited the late lawmaker for his legislative work on media concerns.
Del Mar was the principal author of Republic Act No. 11122 of 2018 which declares September 21 of each year as a working holiday in the cities and province of Cebu in celebration of the Cebu Press Freedom Day.
“Being the son of a journalist and a manager of a local newspaper, his dedication to promote and improve a free yet responsible journalism and media landscape is truly worth noting, which led to people hailing him as ‘Kampeon sa Medya,’” he said.
Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, in a separate statement, expressed his deepest condolences and sympathies to the family of the former Deputy Speaker.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and his constituencies in the first district of Cebu City, whom he had served well despite his health condition,” Velasco said.
Velasco noted that del Mar has proven his passion and commitment to public service by attending virtual plenary sessions and public hearings of the House while in hospital to fulfill his duties and mandate as a lawmaker.
“Never a day in his job was he absent. His contributions to Congress and the nation cannot be overstated,” he said.
What Does It Mean To Take Up My Cross?
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20
It is no sin to be a Christian, for sure. But I have to confess, at times it is mighty inconvenient. It interferes with what you want to do. Your conscience condemns you and refuses to let you do what you would probably have done, had you not met Him who said, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23).
When Jesus called people, He interrupted their goals, their plans, their life works and their consciences as well. The more they know Him, the more they came to understand that following Jesus was not a part-time vocation but an absolute, all-encompassing commitment. And that is why on more than one occasion, some turned away and ceased to follow him.
Why couldn't Christ have rallied the troops around something more attractive than a Roman gallows where losers ended up and all hope was destroyed? Could His teachings not have been more esoteric? More talk about love and life and less about death and dying? God apparently thought not, because He gave His son, and from the cloths which became baby blankets to Golgotha where Jesus was crucified, the cross loomed on the horizon.
"And," said Jesus, "if you are to follow me, you, too must take up your cross." There is one difference, however, between what Jesus did and what He expects us to do. It's all found in the one word which Luke included. It is the word daily, which shifts the location from a hill outside of Jerusalem to the front room of my house where I live. It becomes planted in the office where less-than-nice people annoy me, where I am forced to decide if something is unethical or immoral, or just "good business."
Instead of one heroic "go for it" commitment, it becomes an ongoing series of decisions and judgments which changes my lifestyle. John Henry Newman had this in mind when he wrote, "To take up the cross of Christ is no great action done once for all; it consists in the continual practice of small duties which are distasteful to us." (Newman as quoted by Elisabeth Elliot.
In a very real and practical sense, taking your cross means you are no longer in control or at liberty to decide some issues. Your morality is at stake, the way you do business is an issue, your language, your politics, your leisure, your money, your time all become cross-related issues. Yes, taking your cross and following Jesus can be quite confining.
A man whom I have admired, A. W. Tozer, in his book Of God and Men, wrote, "The man with a cross no longer controls his destiny; he lost control when he picked up his cross. That cross immediately became to him an all-absorbing interest, an overwhelming interference."
There is one more thought which I must leave with you. Biographies have always been of interest to me. I think it's come from the desire to try to learn what qualities are found in the lives of godly people which I can incorporate in my life, thus making me more effective for God.
But here's my point. Never--whether it is in the memoirs of the great heroes of the faith or of little-known figures of history who were devout and committed--have I found anyone who came to the end and said, "I regret that I crossed the great continental divide of faith, or drew a line in the sand and stepped across it as I took up my cross and followed Jesus."
But I have met thousands of men and women all over the world, including saints in China and Russia who paid dearly for taking up that cross, who have said, "I'd do it again, and walk every step of the way all over again." That has to say something.
Resource reading: Mark 15:1-47
https://www.guidelines.org/devotional/what-does-it-mean-to-take-up-my-cross/
Internet connectivity issue interrupts crucial Senate budget debates
(UPDATE) - The Senate on Tuesday abruptly suspended budget debates in plenary due to internet connectivity issues as most of its members are participating through online video conferencing.
The livestream of the Senate budget debates was cut around 2:30 p.m., shortly after internet provider Converge announced a nationwide outage.
"There was a sudden power surge in some areas. Nadamay ang internet (The internet connection was affected)," Senate President Vicente Sotto III told ABS-CBN News in a text message.
The Department of Information and Communications Technology "immediately troubleshot our connections," he said.
In a Facebook post, Converge apologized to its subscribers, admitting that it was "experiencing issues" in its data center. It was unclear whether they were related to recent storms which damaged power and communication infrastructure.
"Our technical team is already working to resolve the issue at the soonest possible time," Converge's post read.
Prior to Converge's November 17 nationwide outage, senators have already been complaining about connectivity issues in the chamber after several hearings had to be suspended.
'Comedy of errors': Hearing on PH web status suspended over poor internet connection
In March, the Senate began allowing its members to participate in hearings and plenary sessions remotely to curb the spread of COVID-19.
The Senate's session resumed at 2:52 p.m.
'Converge' trends on Twitter
Amid the outage, the word ‘Converge’ trended on Twitter Tuesday as some of its customers across the country experienced internet connection problems.
‘Converge’ reached the second spot among Philippine trends following the announcement of the service outage due to a ‘power issue.’
Third year management accounting student Karl Dailisan told ABS-CBN News that this scenario is not new for him as he usually experiences internet connection problems with the internet service provider.
“So far, it's okay. It's fast, I'll give them that. However, there are times when the connection will be lost without notice. The real struggle is, it's very hard to contact their customer support,” the Converge user of more than a year told ABS-CBN News.
“And when you finally get a hold of their customer support, it has a long queue because of the numerous complaints,” added the University of Santo Tomas student doing distance learning in Cainta, Rizal.
Working from home, social media specialist Angelo De Vera, 21, said many Filipinos rely on their internet service providers heavily amid the pandemic.
“[Napapadalas] talaga 'yung pagsira niya and now na mas maraming taong nagwo-work from home at nago-online class talagang mas marami ang nakaka-experience nung effects ng walang net sa bahay, hence we tweet and post online,” he said.
(Frequently, there are internet connection problems and more are now working from home or doing online classes and a lot of people are experiencing the effects of not having internet connection at home, hence we tweet and post online.) — with a report from Josiah Antonio, ABS-CBN News
Monday, November 16, 2020
Here Is How To Have Enough
Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7
Probably no other generation in history has been more committed to living for the moment than is our present one; or put in somewhat less refined terms, no generation has been more committed to squeezing every ounce of pleasure and fulfillment out of living than the present one. Now all of this is not bad, but the constant emphasis on self produces a distorted picture of the individual's true worth. The end result is a selfishness that produces a marked disregard for others, and totally distorts a person's actual importance. Nothing is much smaller than an individual's world who shuts others from the heart as well as the hand and purse.
We're somewhat like the little child of about two years of age who sat down to play with the set of blocks his dad, a successful builder, had given to his little boy. Immediately, the little child started stacking them up, building a house of his own. The dad, sitting down to play with the lad, said, "Give me a few, son, and I'll build a house, too!" "No," responded the little boy, "these are mine!"
To whom, really, do the building blocks--real estate, stocks or bonds, annuities or even your bank account-- belong? To you? Or to your Heavenly Father who put them in your hands?
Few believers today really take seriously the teaching of God's Word, the Bible, when it comes to our possessions and who really owns them. Thinking that money or possessions belong to us alone, we often feel that we have done a wonderful thing to help someone in need, or even to send some God's way.
The Bible teaches that what I have is not mine to spend selfishly as I please, but it is a stewardship given to me by my Heavenly Father to be used first to provide for the material needs of my life and my family, but then to be used in helping those who are in need. A new idea? No, an old one, but one which isn't widely marketed today. For example: Paul wrote Titus and said, "Our people [meaning the household of faith] must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives" (Titus 3:14).
When Paul wrote his letter to the Ephesians, he instructed those who had been careless about taking what did not really belong to them, to stop the practice immediately and go to work—in his words, "...doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need" (Ephesians 4:28). He didn't suggest that the motive was having a larger home, or a better vehicle for transportation. He centered on the generosity which would meet the need of a hurting neighbor or friend.
Paul never avoided the subject of money, fearful that he would offend those who read or heard his letters. By bringing them into confrontation with the will of God for their treasury, he felt that he was doing them a great favor. In his second letter to the Corinthians (often referred to as "the heart of Paul"), he said that God would cause their resources to enlarge "...so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God" (2 Corinthians 9:11).
Frankly, we've gotten it all wrong. Focusing on "getting," we've never learned the joy of "giving." And until we discover the satisfaction of an open hand, we'll never, ever, have enough to satisfy.
Do you see yourself in the story of the little child, hoarding his building blocks, fearful of putting them back into the hands of the loving father who gave them to him? If so, take stock and realize that what you think is yours is only a loan. Think about it.
Resource reading: 2 Corinthians 8:1-12
https://www.guidelines.org/devotional/here-is-how-to-have-enough/
Sunday, November 15, 2020
'Worse than we prepared for': Cagayan LGU nabulaga sa malawakang baha
Nabulaga ang lokal na pamahalaan ng Cagayan sa lebel ng tubig na pumasok sa probinsiya sa pagbahang inilarawan nilang pinakamalala sa loob ng 4 na dekada.
Sinabi ni Cagayan Governor Manuel Mamba na pinaghandaan naman daw nila ang pagbaha at nagbigay sila ng sapat na abiso.
Pero nabigla umano sila sa dami ng tubig na bumaba kahit pa man walang storm signal na nakataas sa lugar nang dumaan ang bagyong Ulysses.
"Nakapaghanda po kami (We were able to prepare), no question about that. We anticipated this, we had preemptive evacuation, we had forced evacuation. We anticipated this but we did not anticipate how enormous ‘yung tubig na darating (the water that was coming)," ani Mamba.
Napuno ng panawagan ng tulong ang social media para sa mga nasalanta ng baha sa Cagayan, kung saan 9 na ang naitalang patay Sabado.
9 dead in unprecedented 'late' floods in Cagayan; rain washed down from nearby provinces- Gov
Maraming residente ang napunta sa kanilang mga bubungan, nag-aabang ng tulong o ayuda sa mga awtoridad.
Bukod sa northeast monsoon at sa pagdaan ng bagyong Ulysses, ang itinuturong dahilan ni Mamba ng pagbaha ay ang pagbubukas ng Magat Dam, na aniya'y nagpapalubog ng probinsiya sa baha.
Kaya panawagan niya, limitahan ang paglalabas ng tubig sa naturang dam.
"We also sought the help of the Magat Dam na kung pupwede, if it’s possible, na ilimit nila yung pagrelease nila ng tubig galing sa Magat Dam dahil ito po ay nakakadagdag at siya naman po yung dahilan kung bakit matagal humupa ang aming flooding dito," ani Mamba.
Nobyembre 9 nang mag-umpisang magpakawala ng tubig ang Magat dam bilang paghahanda noon sa bagyong Ulysses.
Pero noong Huwebes, Nobyembre 12, 7 gate ang binuksan sa dam. Ayon kay PAGASA Hydrologist Richard Orendain, katumbas ito ng 127,200 Olympic size swimming pool kada araw.
Pero giit ni Orendain, delikado kung 'di magpapakawala ng tubig.
"Unang una dyan is kailangan nating ma-preserve yung integrity ng ating mga dams dahil ang ating mga dams ay may kanya-kanyang mga design... So yung integrity ng dam ang kailangan natin. Mas delikado kung pupunuin natin yung dam at ‘pag nagkaroon ng dam break yung pagbaha na yan mas malala du'n sa pagbahang nararanasan natin ngayon," ani Orendain.
Pero nilinaw ni Engineer Edwin Viernes ng National Irrigation Authority, nagbibigay sila ng abiso higit 6 oras para makapaghanda ang mga residente.
Mas kumaunti na ang bilang ng mga gate na nakabukas. Pero wala pa ring katiyakan kung kailan matitigil ang pagpapakawala.
Nananatili pa ring nasa critical level ng 12.70 metro ang lebel ng tubig sa Buntun Bridge sa Tugueguerao City. -- Ulat ni Danielle Rebollos
Calabarzon opens largest COVID-19 quarantine facility in the PH
A quarantine facility that houses 550 beds, the largest facility so far built in the country, was opened in Calamba city, Laguna on Saturday to to augment Calabarzon's COVID-19 response by increasing the patient-isolation capacity of the region.
The opening of the facility came as the government expected a spike in coronavirus cases after a series of typhoons hit the country.
“Dahil nagkaroon ng sunud-sunod na kalamidad, ang ating evacuation centers natin di maiiwasan magkaroon ng pagkakadikit-dikit. And we expect na magkakaroon tayo ng increases on our COVID-19 cases,” National Task Force (NTF) COVID-19 Chief Implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. said.
(Due to the successive calamities, people will crowd the evacuation centers. We expect increases in our COVID-19 cases).
The P50 million repurposed quarantine facility was originally the regional government center of Calabarzon.
It has complete amenities for patients, as well as a healthcare workers’ quarters with CCTV cameras installed.
“With the construction of this mega quarantine facility, we now have an adequate COVID response for isolation in your region," NTF vice-chair Eduard Año said during the ceremonial turnover.
“Gayunpaman, 'wag po tayo magkumpiyansa. Pangalagaan pa rin po natin ang ating mga kalusugan at panatilihin na lagi tayong naka-mask.”
(This doesn't mean we'll let our guards down. Let's take care of our health and always wear our face masks.)
Saturday, November 14, 2020
‘Ano ba naman ito’: Roque hits back at critics of his public singing session
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque trended on social media when a video of him singing in a public setting turned up Saturday, a scene people criticized because they said it came at a time when the country was reeling from typhoons and floods.
In a statement, Roque said it was his way of unwinding.
“Just when I thought I could unlade a little after a hectic week/s, my unremarkable singing as a means of unloading goes public and I get a beating,” he said in a statement.
In a video shared to ABS-CBN News, Roque was on the microphone performing the Eraserheads’ “Pare Ko.”
A person familiar with the incident told ABS-CBN News that Roque went to the pub purportedly in Baguio on Friday night.
Roque, meanwhile, urged the public to “go back to the most pressing matter at the moment.”
He said providing aid to affected residents and areas because of Typhoon Ulysses should be prioritized, not his singing.
“Having said this, let us go back to the most pressing matter at the moment, which is providing the much-needed assistance to our distressed brothers and sisters in the aftermath of typhoon Ulysses,” Roque said.
“As I speak, my family and I are preparing/repacking 600 bags of rice for donation in Alcala, Cagayan Valley where my friend and previous law partner and his family resides.”
Earlier, he said the public should not concern itself with looking for government officials amid a series of calamities, because they are doing their jobs.
#NasaanAngPangulo -- or "where is the President" -- became a hot topic on Twitter over the past few weeks as typhoons battered Luzon and the capital region, leaving a trail of devastation and massive floods.
DOH discourages videoke
Meanwhile, the Department of Health in late October released guidelines through its circular No. 2020-0355 advising limited face-to-face activities even during the holidays.
The DOH has discouraged the use of videoke machines during the holidays, saying similar activities could transmit the virus faster.
“Dito ipinakita [ang transmittal ng virus] kapag ikaw ay nagsasalita, na kapag ikaw ay humihinga, kapag ikaw ay umuubo at nakikita sa pag-aaral na ito na kapag ikaw ay kumakanta ito ang pinakamataas na load ng virus na puwede mong mai-transmit,” DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said.
(The study showed the transmittal of the virus if you are talking, breathing, or coughing. It showed that the highest chance of transmitting the virus load is during the time when you are singing.) — with a report from Jamaine Punzalan, ABS-CBN News
Friday, November 13, 2020
JEHOVAH TSIDKENU: God, The Righteous One
"The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness." Jeremiah 23:5-6
As the darkness that shrouded Russia under Communism began to lift, thousands of people began to search for their spiritual roots. The following letter was sent to a fellow Christian broadcaster: "I do not know how to address you, that is, I do not know your name; but I do not think that is important. The fact is that I want to know definitely whether there is a God or are you just deceiving the people. If you are as certain about God's existence as you preach and sing about Him, then I straightway would want to believe in Him the same way as you do." The listener then begged for a Bible so he could read the record for himself.
As I pondered the circumstances of the one who wrote, living under the dark cloud of atheism, uncertain as to whether or not there is a God, I thought of the words of the one-time cynic turned believer, Malcolm Muggeridge, who said, "God has mercifully made the diversions whereby we seek to evade the reality of existence so ludicrous, so preposterous in their outcome, that we are forced back to Him to cry out of help and mercy." (National Courier, June 24, 1977, p. 23).
Living without God under Communism for 73 years seemed to bring out the very darkness of the human soul and make people cry out, "God, wherever you are, whoever you are, we want to know you!"
If, however, you sat down and tried to tell the person who wrote that letter who God is and what He is like, what would you say? Yes, you could tell him that God is powerful, loving, kind, and merciful, but those words describe the acts of God more than His nature or character.
There is one characteristic of God which has always been difficult for us to understand, and that is the righteousness of God. Agree? In the pages of the Old Testament there are seven redemptive names for God, each showing us something of His relationship with us as His children. Each of these is a compound of a word with the Hebrew word Jehovah, and one of the most important is the expression Jeremiah used for God, calling Him Jehovah Tsidkenu or The Lord our Righteousness. "Ah, yes!" you say, but quickly ask, "What is righteousness?"
Sometimes we better understand something by acknowledging its opposite. And what is the opposite of righteousness? In a word, depravity! And then in our world of baseness and wrongdoing, we understand that God, being righteous, is the very opposite of what we describe as sin in the world.
One of our greatest misconceptions is that we can generate this in our own lives. "Impossible," cries Paul, as he writes, "There is no one righteous, not even one" (Romans 3:10). Again he said that forgiveness with God for our depravity and wrongdoing is "not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us," says Paul, "through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5).
Malcolm Muggeridge believed that our darkness drives us to the light, and our depravity and baseness make us cry out for mercy and help; and when we do that, a kind and loving God--totally different from what we are--gives us eternal life, accepting the payment made by His Son, who died for our depravity.
In the natural, none of this makes sense. We, of course, treat anyone who acts generously towards us with suspicion, thinking, "What's the catch?" Understanding there is no catch makes the heart cry out in praise and worship. As Jeremiah wrote, He is indeed "The Lord our righteousness," no matter how difficult it may be to understand from a human perspective.
Resource reading: Isaiah 53:1-12
https://www.guidelines.org/devotional/jehovah-tsidkenu-god-the-righteous-one/
Thursday, November 12, 2020
Hello Kitty and Dear Daniel occupations' stuffed toy
JEHOVAH SHAMMAH: God, Who Is Present
The distance all around will be 18,000 cubits. And the name of the city from that time on will be: THE LORD IS THERE. Ezekiel 48:35
Only those who have been through very difficult hard times can understand the reality of knowing that God had his hand on their lives, that He is the one who sustained and preserved them. That realization, of course, is humbling because when you have been through the fire and you made it, you know it wasn't your cleverness or your strength that brought you through. It had to be God.
Frank Worsley would have agreed. This tough, optimistic New Zealander was captain of the ship, HMS Endurance when in 1914 Sir Earnest Shackleton took 27 brave men and headed for the South Pole. Everything was put on hold, however, when the merciless ice pack crushed the Endurance. A long, difficult journey brought the group to Elephant Island, but then Shackleton realized they would die, if he did not go for help. Taking Worsley and one other man, Shackleton--against all odds--took a small whaling boat about 20 feet long and made it through eight hundred miles of hurricane-force storms with sub-freezing temperatures to South Georgia. But then having arrived, their problems were only beginning.
They had to cross the island to the little whaling settlement. Never before had a human done that. Twelve to fourteen thousand-foot peaks with crevasses filled with glaciers and snowpack had to be crossed. Three routes were selected and three times they led to dead ends. Wearily they climbed back to the top and chose another route.
Finally, they succeeded. In his book Endurance, named after their little ship, Worsley tells of the exciting adventure. Describing their trek across South Georgia island, he wrote, "Whenever I reviewed the incidents of that march, I had the sub-conscious feeling that there were four of us, instead of three. Moreover, this impression was shared by both Shackleton and Crean." And who was the fourth? Worsley never said. Was it an angel? Was it the presence of the Lord, guiding, sustaining, and protecting? The fact is, they made it; and Shackleton saved every man. (F.A. Worsley, Endurance, p. 164).
Scores of individuals can testify to the fact that in difficult times God made a difference one way or another. Of the beautiful names of God revealed in the pages of Scripture, there is one which confirms this beautiful truth. Ezekiel calls God, Jehovah Shammah, which means "The God who is present."
When a publisher asked me to write about my favorite verse, I had to ponder the issue for several months. "What is my favorite verse?" I asked myself, thinking that to select one from so many would be an impossibility. Finally, I decided. I said, there isn't one but two which both speak of a great truth. The references: Matthew 28:20 and Hebrews 13:5. The first phrase is, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world." The second records the words of Jesus Christ saying, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
The stark reality is that God never promised to protect us from the ice packs that would crush our little vessels, the storms of life that come with hurricane force, the bitter driving winds that threaten us. But God promised to be with us in the storm, to walk with us through the fire, and to be present as we go through the dark valley.
"But why don't I feel this?" A friend put the very question to me this past week. The unsatisfying but truthful answer is that there are some things which you accept and believe as truth no matter whether or not you feel them.
Jehovah Shammah, God who is present with us, can make all the difference. As Frank Worsley put it, "there was no doubt that Providence had been with us." Indeed, it was (in his words), "a thing that has given me much food for thought, and which I have never been able to explain." It's still true.
Resource reading: Daniel 3:1-30
https://www.guidelines.org/devotional/jehovah-shammah-god-who-is-present/
Sunday TV Mass: The Healing Eucharist
Sunday TV Mass: The Healing Eucharist is aired live from the ABS-CBN Chapel of Annunciation and featuring priests from archdiocese or diocese as mass celebrant and Sis. Boots Anson Roa-Rodrigo as mass commentator
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| ABS-CBN Chapel of Annunciation |
Mass presider:
- Bishop Honesto Ongtioco
- Fr. Glenn Paul Gomez, SVD
- Fr. Gerry Orbos, SVD