One Baptized in Bogo

We had an early start again this morning in order to travel to Bogo, at the north end of Cebu Island. There are some beautiful views of brilliant blue seas and lush mountains along the way, again in the midst of terrible poverty. The trip is supposed to take about 2 hours, but took us almost 3 hours this morning. Traffic was very heavy going through Cebu City and there were several delays along the way due to construction. The road is also very rough requiring very slow speeds for the vast majority of the way. Instead of having time to spare before the start of the lectures, we had to start immediately on arrival.

Gil (pronounce like “hill”) Suico is the one preaching at Bogo. He worked hard to invite numerous visitors and about 65 were present for the studies. Our studies were in the church building which is joined to Gil's house. It is a concrete block structure with numerous gaps and a tin roof. I started out by preaching on “the Inspiration of the Scripture” I had not gotten more than 5 minutes into the lesson when a driving rain hit. The rain on the tin roof with no insulation made a very loud noise which was impossible to speak over, even with a microphone and sound system. So, I stopped for several minutes and we sang two songs while we waited for the rain to pass. After finishing that lesson, I went immediately to a shortened form of “The Salvation of Cornelius” which I knew could be completed before we needed to break for lunch.

After lunch, I preached on “Salvation & Saul.” Since several of the visitors were from Evangelical groups, I took extra time delivering and adding more explanation of the points made. All through the lesson, I emphasized how clear the Bible makes it that Paul was saved by the blood of Christ at the point of water baptism. In order to reinforce that point on the clarity of God’s word, I decided to give a sermon on “Confusing the Issue: The Lawyer’s Problem” from Luke 10. The lawyer asked Jesus, “What shall I do to inherit eternal salvation?” Jesus responded, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?” The lawyer gave the right answer which Jesus acknowledged, but the lawyer sought to evade his guilt by confusing the issue. Jesus simple returned to the simplicity of God’s will and showed that all could make proper application of it. We then applied the same principle to read plain teach from God’s word on morality the church, doctrine and other areas where human ideas differ from God’s plain truth.

After the lessons, we had a question and answer session which was very lively. The first question concerned the thief on the cross. Other questions dealt with why all men are not saved if Christ’s blood was given for all men, why women could not preach, and several other topics. We dealt with each question by referring to the Scriptures that answered the query. When the questions ended, Jun Apatan extended the invitation. The lady who had asked about the thief on the cross came to be baptized after seeing the Bible teaching and its application. We praise God again for the power of His truth!

The ride back home was typical Philippine road trip over 2 hours – long periods of fear punctuated with moments of sheer terror. The Lord willing, the lectures tomorrow will be in the Cebu City area.

Six Baptized in Mambaling

Our schedule for today was in the Mambaling district of Cebu City with the Southside church where Jun Apatan labors. Several other brethren that preach in the Cebu City area were also there and it was good to see all of them. If an exact count of the attendance was taken, I was not told, but my estimate is that 50 to 60 were present. Most were in a small room that was “air conditioned” while a small group remained outside to hear the messages by a sound system. Even though the air conditioner could not keep up with the number present within the small space, it did cut the heat and I am thankful for that fact, because I had to do all of the preaching on this very hot day.

In the morning, I preached about 3 hours giving two lessons: “The Inspiration of God” and “Salvation & Saul.” After the lunch break, I preached for another 3 hours on “Identifying the NT Church” and “Grace, Faith & Obedience.” Immediately after the last lesson, we had a question and answer session. The only one wanting to ask questions was a young man who preaches in a Pentecostal Church. His main point was to ask if we had historical documents that would prove that the local church in Mambaling could trace its origin back to the original church in the New Testament. I noted that the power was in the seed according to God’s word, and that when we abided simply with the seed of the word, it would produce the same result as it did in NT times. After he continued to exist on some historical document, I asked him if I could produce an historical document, how could he have confidence in that document since it would depend on the word of man. We then talked about the fact that our faith must be in God’s word, not the words of man. The rest of the audience was very satisfied that the message was very clear.

When Jun Apatan extended the invitation of the Lord, six came to be baptized: a man and his wife, a boy about twelve years old, and three young ladies ranging from mid-teens to about 20 years of age. It was a very good day and we are thankful to God for the power of His word!

For those interested, I will try to upload a video of the singing in Cebuano on my FaceBook page.

Lord's Day at Toledo City

After traveling half a day and resting for the remainder of Saturday, we had an early start today. I woke up early to get some breakfast and be ready to go at 7am. The travel time to Toledo City is usually about 2 ½ hours. This morning, it took only 2 hours. The first part of the journey was over a very smooth road on a new highway. However, once we started up in the mountains, the smooth road was history. Cebu has a very mountainous interior which makes for very winding roads. The scenery was a mixture an incredible beauty from nature and unbelievable poverty in human dwellings. It is hard for westerners to understand how the common people can live here. I saw no one walking a dog, but several walking goats and caraboa.

Once we arrived at the meeting place of the church, it was great to see Nathan and Diane Cajigas as well as their family. They are both hard workers in the kingdom of our Lord and very dedicated to Hid cause. The whole family was very busy preparing for the services. We started a little early with singing and then I presented a study on “The God of All Comfort” for the Bible study hour. During the assembly, I preached on “Holy Living in Christ.” Each lesson was about an hour in length and Jonathan Carino summarized the lesson for those not as familiar with English.

After lunch, we began our afternoon study with a lesson on “Grace, Faith & Works” with Jonathan given the interpretation, sentence-for-sentence. Though almost all of the 200 or more in attendance were already Christians, we had a few Baptist visitors and took the opportunity to teach them as well as further strengthening the saints. With the metal roof and the intense sun fully out, the temperature during the afternoon session was our hottest day yet. The lesson with translation was a little over two hours and I was totally drained by the time we finished. This was the only time in preaching over here that I have become so dehydrated that my legs started burning and cramping to the point I thought they would give way. However, when I sat down and drank some Gatorade, I recovered quickly.

The meeting house in Toledo City is very good, by Filipino standards. It is spacious and well built and has been improved each time I have come. Yet, it lacks any of the comforts we would take for granted as Americans. The pews are simple wood slats. Only the front pews have a board at the back. All others are single wooden boards. The chairs towards the back are very light plastic chairs which would collapse under the weight of anyone even approaching 200 lbs. At the back, a number sit on plastic coke bottle cases set on end. Even in such arrangements, they are thrilled to listen to teaching from God’s word all day long.

The drive back was over the same winding roads, but there was a heavy rain that made in more interesting. I continually marvel that travel is completed safely with the driving conditions in the Philippines. This afternoon, I watched for a few moments and then decided to close my eyes and sleep – it is less terrifying that way! We arrived back safely after a little over 2 hours of travel. The Lord willing, we begin tomorrow with a schedule here in Cebu City with Jun Apatan.

Things got off to an interesting start this morning as I awoke to find we had no water pressure in the hotel. Hoping the water pressure would return shortly, I went to eat breakfast. A television crew came up just as I was seated and they interviewed what apparently was a high government official. (Soldiers in camouflage fatigues were everywhere, fully armed with machine guns.) Needless to say, I tarried no longer than absolutely necessary to eat my breakfast. Upon return to my room, I found that the water pressure had increased to a small trickle, so, for the second straight morning, I “showered” under a very slim stream of cold water.

The lectures started promptly at 9am with singing. I gave the first lecture after the singing and spoke on “Identifying the NT Church.” Jonathan Carino followed with a short lesson on “The Establishment of the Church.” Both of those lessons addressed points to show the difference between the church Jesus built and the denominations of man. I then preached on “Salvation and Saul.” As noted previously, that lesson deals with the plan of salvation and refutes the doctrine of salvation by faith only.

After lunch, I started by teaching a lesson entitled “Grace, Faith & Works” to show how all fit together in our salvation. The basic point is that God’s grace saves the one who responds in faith to obey all conditions given by God. After that, I immediately followed with a lesson on “Counting the Cost.” We then had a question and answer session with numerous questions, the bulk of which concerned whether one must be “re-baptized” if previously baptized into a denomination. The questioners seemed open and seeking. It is obvious that several were deeply affected by the truth heard.

An invitation was extended at the end of the lectures, but none responded to be baptized. Several told me they were taking outlines to consider studying, but stated that they were close to making the decision to obey. One man that attended was from an institutional Church of Christ here in the Philippines. He was very impressed with the truth he heard and its clarity in opposition to denominationalism. He also understood the teaching on the organization of the NT church. His comment in leaving was that he had never heard on preach before who truly depended only on what the Bible teaches. Several of our Filipino brethren have agreed to study with him as he is very seriously thinking of leaving institutionalism to work with the faithful congregation here.

It is interesting to me that blackouts have hit us several times every day, but they have never hit during a sermon that was using the projector! They are recurring repeatedly at night and this has given me much trouble in posting to the blog and sending out reports. Once I was unable to send any reports out because of it. Please check the blog for the earliest report, complete with pictures.

The Lord willing, we fly to Cebu tomorrow and begin work on that island on Sunday.

Lectures Begin in Zamboanga

The lectures in Zamboanga City began today at about 9am with 80-85 in attendance. I introduced the studies and their purpose then presented a lesson on “The Inspiration of the Scripture.” After that lesson, we sang one song, and then I had another lesson on “Holy Living in Christ.” Since Ron has now returned home, I must take almost all of the teaching myself with only brief breaks. So, I had about 3 hours of teaching during the morning session.

In the afternoon, I began with the first part of my material on “The Authority of Christ.” The first part of that material went for over an hour and a half dealing with the need for authority, the source of authority, and the difference between specific and generic authority. We stressed that Christ’s authority is established by the teaching of the gospel. So, if we rightly understand how the gospel was taught and how we are to understand it, we will correctly see how Christ authorizes us to act.

After the first less, my voice badly needed a rest, so Jack Jaco gave a lesson on “Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth.” He dealt with the different dispensations and covenants found in God’s word. It was a very simple lesson easily understood by the audience regarding how God’s regulation of man has changed in various times. He concluded by showing the need for us to focus on the gospel as the means through which we are taught about God’s will for us today.

For the final lesson of the day, I covered my remaining material on “The Authority of Christ.” This part of the material shows that all teaching is done by direct precept or command, approved example and/or necessary implication. The lesson closed by making some application of these facts and showing that we may rightly understand God’s will through His truth. After that lesson, we had a question and answer period until the time for our venue ended.

Our audience is very attentive and seems very ready to learn. However, it is different in composition to that in previous days. As I understand it, about two thirds of the people are faithful brethren from Zamboanga or the Pagadian area. Of course, these brethren are very supportive, but the 30-35 non-Christians in attendance are the main focus of these lectures. This is the first opportunity most of them have had to hear the gospel, so we hope and pray their hearts will be open to it. The Lord willing, we begin our studies again tomorrow morning at 9am.

Davao to Zamboanga

Today was a travel day as Jonathan Carino, Jack Jaco and I went from Davao to Zamboanga City. Julie Notarte drove us to the airport with plenty of time to spare, but our flight was delayed leaving so we were late arriving Zamboanga. Since we had no schedule, we went to the venue where we will hold the lectures for the next two day, the Lord willing. The rest of the day we rested and prepared for the lectures. My voice is still not at full strength, so the rest has helped.

Ramon Carino and a group of 13 preachers from the area around Pagadian arrived in the late afternoon by bus. It is always a joy to see and be with brother Ramon. He is Jonathan’s father and he is a great man of faith. He has been a faithful, zealous and godly influence throughout the southern Philippines. We appreciate so much the good encouragement from these brethren who have come so far to study and help in this effort. I plan to update tomorrow after the end of the first day’s lectures.

Very Productive Tuesday

Today was a much shorter and easier day, but still very productive. Since the scheduled we had planned for today was pushed to last night, we had some open time to discuss more in depth with some of the denominational preachers who showed great interest, but still had questions. We secured the same venue I had used Sunday night to use as the place to meet since it is in the central business district and has a room suitable for the number expected (30 to 35). Ben Canada’s first cousin was baptized into Christ after the lectures that ended last Friday. She has shown great zeal ever since in following us to hear more and in getting friends and family to come hear the gospel message. Since she teaches college and is very active in the community, she has a number of contacts. She asked if she could invite some people to join us today and we readily agreed. Since several could only stay for the morning and had talked with Jonathan Carino and Jack Jaco about their views, I thought it best for the two of them to take the morning lectures. Even though the people speak English, it is a second language to them and they could cover more ground more effectively speaking in their dialect. This also allowed my voice some rest as it was almost gone from yesterday. After lunch, I did the teaching and had a very lengthy question and answer session. One man from Nigeria was very insistent on the idea that all matured and dedicated Christians are baptized in the Holy Spirit and guided by the Spirit directly, but he could produce no Bible to sustain his claims. The effect was to help the others clearly see the truth as his views were answered fully with Scripture and several claims he made were directly refuted by plain statements of Scripture.

Though no one was baptized from the session, I believe it was very productive. A denominational preacher and his wife told me that they were talking and studying very seriously and are on the verge of making the decision to obey the gospel. I talked with both for a long time after the study and believe they are very close to the kingdom. Two other denominational preachers expressed much the same views of being very close to deciding to be baptized into Christ. Three or four from the morning studies expressed similar thought to the Filipino brethren before they had to leave at noon. I must confess that I forgot to take out my camera during today’s session, so these pictures are from previous days.

Tomorrow, John, Jack and I will be flying to Zambuanga City, the Lord willing. Please remember us in your prayers for a safe journey.

Two Baptized on Monday

Last night was very short and today was very long. By the time I got back to the hotel last night, it was 9:45pm. After eating a little fruit and crackers, I posted and sent out the report for yesterday’s work as well as doing some other work. By the time I finished everything, it was very late and wake-up time for this morning arrived far too soon. Yesterday, we also had to change our intended schedule for today. Those changes made today much more taxing. The ones with whom we were scheduled to study in Toril on Tuesday told us that they needed to change the time to this afternoon and evening so that people could attend that are working throughout the days. So, we decided to begin the lectures in the morning at Tagum as scheduled and go until 4pm and then travel to Toril for more lectures until 10pm. It made for a very long day with much travel.

The lectures at Tagum were for denominational preachers. We had about 150 in attendance. I began by preaching on “The Inspiration of the Scriptures.” Ron followed with his lesson on “New Beginnings in Christ.” After lunch, I taught on “Salvation & Saul.” Ron spoke last on “Salvation by Grace through Faith.” We concluded with a question and answer session. The first several questioners were very angry and hostile to the teaching and tried to talk over our answers. Once we shamed them a little by noting that their rudeness was not consistent with their claim to follow Christ, they calmed and the audience became much more attentive. This reaction is fairly common among the denominational preachers who first hear the truth. If they will come back a few more times in future lectures, some of them may be obedient. One such result took place today with the denominational preacher that arranged the lectures. He had heard the teaching before, but he was convinced after today’s session and was baptized into Christ.

After Tagum, we drove to Toril in horrible traffic at a snail’s pace. It took two and a half hours to get there. When we arrived a little after 6:30pm, we learned that the main preacher for the denominational group had been hospitalized earlier after suffering a stroke. He has heard us before and is getting very close to obedience. As I understood it, he is expected to recover since it was a light stroke, but he will remain in the hospital for several days. The “associate” preacher met us along with about 20 to 25 people of that church. They were very kind and attentive. Ron started with a lesson on “Salvation in Christ.” I followed with the “Faith, Grace & Obedience” sermon. After that, we had a break of about 30 minutes. Since it was 9:20pm, there was only time for one more lecture. Ron took it and I returned to the hotel to write this report and print outlines of lessons wanted at several of our previous venues. I just heard from Ron that one more was baptized at the close of the study. We are thankful to God for the response of these two to begin their new lives in Christ today!

Great Day in Davao!

The Lord’s day here began with me going with John Carino, Jhun Carpentero (son of my late good friend, Cip), Carlito Abella and Ben Canada to the congregation where Ben preaches. When asked how long of a taxi ride it was, I was told about 20 minutes. About 45 minutes later, we arrived at the place where the road ended. The village is right on the sea with Samal Island visible in the distance. For several miles, we had gone into the village with open sewer lines running beside the road. They empty into the sea at an inlet in view of Ben’s place. Though the ride was very rough in the taxi, it was much to be preferred to the manually powered tricycle we had to ride on the way out.

The building where the church meets is about 12 feet wide by 20 feet long. I asked Ben where he lived and he showed me a little thatch room in the back no more than 4 feet wide by 6 feet long. Our master closet at home is larger than his living space! In that space, he lives with his wife and 4 children, from 15 to 4. Ben gave up a very lucrative salary as a city chaplain when he obeyed the gospel and now lives a very sparse existence without complaint, but with great zeal as he seeks to spread the gospel. I am humbled and, frankly, ashamed when I see the examples of selfless dedication so abundantly evident in many brethren here in the Philippines.

The worship of the church was very uplifting. About 30-35 were present with all except the young children and 2 first-time visitors being baptized members. I was asked to preach on “Bible Teaching on the Family.” Since they requested that I give as much detail as possible in the time we had, I preached for about an hour and a half. John followed that with a short lesson on “The Church.” With the metal roof and the lack of breeze, the heat became stifling by the time we ended a little after noon. I brought my digital thermometer and it read 95 to start and went up to 98 before we were through. Still, all of the people expressed their wish that we could stay all day and teach more. None were baptized at this place, but the brethren are clearly learning, living and teaching to the best of their ability and with great zeal.

We then traveled back into the central business area of Davao to meet with another group for their services and lectures afterwards. The situation with this group is interesting and presents both challenges and opportunities. The preacher and his wife have been baptized within the past few weeks as a result of Jonathan Carino’s teaching to them. However, the group with whom they have been meeting is clearly denominational in its beliefs. They do not use instrumental music because they have no building. They meet from place to place as they make arrangements. Today, we rented a venue that normally functions as an “all you can eat seafood” place of the Filipino variety, so that it could accommodate the group and visitors that they invited. Let me just say that the aroma was potent.

We began about 2pm and went until a little after 9pm. I presented lessons on “Inspiration,” “Salvation & Saul” and “Identifying the NT Church.” John gave a lesson on “Faith & Works.” To end the lectures, we had a question and answer period with a variety of topics covered. I urged those who saw the need to be baptized properly, for the remission of sins, to do so at that time. The preacher met quickly with those attending and said 9 of them wanted to obey the gospel. One man who is a cousin of Ben Canada came to me and told me he also wanted to be baptized. So, following the close of the session, 10 headed out to be baptized tonight. We were thankful to God for the power of His word.

When we were on our way back to the hotel, we heard from Ron Halbrook and his companions that 9 had obeyed the gospel where they had gone to preach. With 19 souls baptized into Christ here, it has been a great day in Davao!

[The picture to the left is Ben Canada and his family.]

Saturday in Calinan

Our Saturday was spent in Calinan, a district on the outskirts of Davao, about one hour from our hotel. We went there and back by taxis made to hold 4 (including the driver), but there were 5 of us. After an hour on rough roads through very heavy traffic and several scary episodes, we arrived at our venue for the day.

We spoke the full day in a “Bible Baptist Church” at the invitation of the preacher. Numerous denominational preachers and leaders were present. The last count I saw was about 60, but a few more came after that count was taken. It was a typical church building in the Philippines with a metal roof, concrete block sides, numerous windows and in the midst of a very busy and noisy neighborhood. Though I do not know the exact temperature, it was blistering hot! The crowd endured the elements and listened carefully from morning until about 6pm.

The lectures began with my lesson on “The Inspiration of Scripture.” Ron followed with “New Beginnings in Christ,” a study dealing with the new covenant, new sacrifice and new kingdom. We then had a lengthy question and answer session to review some of their questions, especially regarding the change of covenants.

After lunch, I preached on “Salvation and Saul,” giving a detailed analysis of what the Scripture says concerning when Saul was saved – at the point of baptism, not the point of faith only. Ron followed with a lesson entitled “When Peter Confessed Christ.” It showed the nature of Christ’s church or kingdom and related issues. We concluded with a shortened form of a lesson I gave on “Grace, Faith & Works (Obedience)” showing how all worked together rather than being opposed to each other. We had set aside a time for another question and answer session, but the audience said they understood the things taught. It was clear that some of the people and several of the denominational preachers, including the man who is the supervisor or leader of Baptists in that area, are seriously considering the things taught. Since we were invited guests, we could not extend an invitation as such, but let them know we were ready to help any who wanted to obey the Lord. I talked with several of them for a long time after the lectures and several told me they were convinced that they had not been taught the truth in their denomination regarding salvation and specifically the faith only doctrine. Several of the preachers are asking that we come to their congregations to teach the same thing. It was a very, very encouraging outcome! Our Filipino brethren will be following up on these contacts as we believe there are several who are “not far from the kingdom.”

Today in Davao was a major festival. I have learned to dread the festivals over here! Last night, the bands for the festival practiced – from about midnight to 1:30am on the street right outside my window. Evidently, they felt the need for further practice as they started up again at about 4am. There is no doubt we will be subjected to more slaughtered tunes tonight as well as the sounds of drunken partying. Thankfully, I have ear plugs at the ready.

We all split up for services around Davao tomorrow, so I will be speaking constantly, except for the meal breaks. It will be a full day for me tomorrow with two different places to preach from 9:30am until 9pm. Please pray for my voice to hold up.

Five More Souls Baptized into Christ

The second day of the lectures at Davao began with a few more in attendance than we had yesterday. Though several brethren had to go back to their places, an even larger number of denominational people came to hear. Several of the new ones today are preachers in denominational churches. In fact, there were twelve denominational supervisors among the attendees.

The day started with my lesson on “Repentance” noting that it is essential for anyone to be forgiven of sins. Ron followed with another part of his material on “Establishing Authority” dealing with the events of the Reformation and Restoration as they searched to come back towards the Scripture. The audience was very attentive to the lesson which went to the lunch break.

After lunch, I preached on “Identifying the New Testament Church.” The lesson dealt with correctly understanding the term “church” as referring to saved people, whether in the relational or functional sense. The audience was very receptive, nodding agreement even when we got to specific application showing modern denominations are not the church we read about in the New Testament. Ron followed with the remainder of the material on the “Authority of Christ” showing how we avoid apostasy today by depending entirely upon the instruction Christ has given in the gospel. The final lesson for the series was “The Plan of Salvation” which I taught to make the simple steps of obeying the gospel clear and serve as a basis for making an invitation for those who desired to obey that gospel.

After the last lecture, we had another question and answer session with inquires on various subjects. Ron and I both answered numerous questions which seemed to be honestly searching for the truth. Juanito Balbin made an appeal for all who would seek to obey the Lord and put Him on in baptism. Three responded to the invitation of Christ and were baptized for the remission of sins. However, by the time they were ready to go to the place where they could be immersed, two other decided to make the commitment and be baptized as well. So, five precious souls were baptized into Christ this evening. We praise God for the clarity of His truth and the honest hearts willing to receive it!