Our venue today was in the city of Tacloban, famous as the place for the American forces landing under the command of General Douglas MacArthur in WWII. We met in the upstairs function room of a Cindy’s café. It was somewhat air conditioned and served as a good spot with very little disruption present. The members of the small congregation at Tacloban had invited their friends and acquaintances to listen for the day. A little over 50 were assembled to listen to the gospel presented.
The morning session was taken by me introducing the studies with a lesson on “The Word of the Gospel, the Seed & Salvation” from 1 Peter 1:22-25 followed by a sermon on “How God Used the Prophets to Speak His Will.” The second lesson covered the same basic points as my lesson on “Inspiration of the Scripture,” but was arranged differently by taking the order from the points made in 2 Peter 2:12-21. We then took a break for lunch.
The afternoon session began with a lesson on “Salvation & Saul” and was followed by a lesson from Jonathan Carino on “The Church in the New Testament.” I followed with the final lesson on “Grace, Faith & Obedience” then went immediately into another on “Counting the Cost.” Jonathan closed out the day’s study with an appeal for those who understood the lessons and saw the need to obey that they come and do so. Before he even started the song (“Have You Counted the Cost”), one man started towards the front who had been listening very carefully and confessed Christ. After making his confession, he asked to address the crowd and called upon all to make the same decision and related his great joy in obeying the Lord.
After this one obeyed Christ, we had a time for a short question/answer session. One was a denominational lady who asked about denominational baptism and whether one receiving it in the past would need to be “baptized again.” We discussed the Bible teaching on what constitutes true baptism in the name of Christ and hope she will soon obey. One man from a holiness group asked a question clearly aimed at advancing the oneness position regarding God, professing there is only one person that possesses the divine nature. After we answered that question, he jumped to some of his views on what human regulations should be imposed to insure holiness. This was easily answered by noting what the Bible teaches regarding true holiness.
Again, we are thankful to each of you who have shown your concern for this work. Please keep us in your prayers.
Brotherly, Harry O.
