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.
