There were 73 people gathered for the lectures today – more than were present yesterday. They were again very attentive and studied seriously with us in each lesson.
Chip started the lectures for today with a lesson on “The Silence of the Scripture” showing that the silence of God does not authorize us to act, but it is God’s revealed word that authorizes us to act. I followed with a study on “Who Is a Christian?” We considered the three passages where the word “Christian” is found in the NT and saw the characteristics of those who were Christians in NT times, as well as seeing the contrasting characteristics of those who were not Christians. Jonathan then presented “Does Man Have the Right to His Own Religious Belief & Practice?” The point was to show that we have no right as granted by God to our own beliefs and practices, but must submit to the belief and practice that He commands in His word. After that, we had the lunch break.
After lunch, Chip brought another sermon on “Borrowed Time,” noting that we have no assurance of more time in our lives, but we need to obey God now. An element of humor was added when Chip ended his lesson and went outside to take care of his sinus trouble. One problem, he forgot to turn the wireless microphone off J. I followed with a study that began by considering the relation of “Faith, Grace & Obedience” to re-emphasize the fact that all of these, not just one or two, are involved in the salvation given by God. After covering those points, I transitioned into a short form of a study on “Counting the Cost.” Jonathan gave some closing words of exhortation about “People Who Thought They Were Saved – But Were Lost.”
With these principles set before the audience, an invitation was extended for those who desired to obey the gospel of our Lord. No one came to obey the gospel at that time, but I still believed there was a great opportunity that has opened here in Tacloban. So, I started to answer questions. One concerned whether a woman may be a “pastor” or “leader” of the church. After establishing the fact that pastors, bishops and elders were all the same in the NT and were required to meet the qualifications of 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, they readily accepted the point.
As I finished that question, several made known their desire to obey the gospel, so Jonathan asked anyone who wanted to obey the gospel to come forward and confess their faith. Nine souls made that decision and came to be baptized into Christ. Needless to say, we rejoiced greatly even as we are sure the angels rejoiced! After the lectures, we also learned that another one was probably going to be baptized when they went to the seashore.
Regarding our non-lecture life, last night was another interesting experience here in the Philippines. It seems that some of the roosters from Tuguegarao have been imported to Tacloban. As those of you reading these reports for several years know, our first hotel in Tuguegarao was next to a field where the fighting cocks were being raised. There we were introduced to Filipino roosters that have some confusion regarding the identification of dawn because they crow all night long! Last night, they were cock-a-doodle-doing constantly – until dawn, when they suddenly went silent. However, these time-challenged roosters were not the only disturbance last night. It seems that every dog in our part of town decided to bark all night as well. It is entirely possible that their howling was the result of the off-key wailing of the constant karaoke “singers” just down the street. (The theory among the bar-goers seems to be that they become better singers the longer they drink. However, having witnessed the testing of that theory, I would like to assure them that it is utterly false.) In addition, a band with loud bass drums made a night of their banging and squawking as well. To top it off, a pig that was being prepared for the main place in a feast was loudly protesting its place in the festivities, squealing like you would not believe! The cacophony of sounds going on last night was not exactly conducive to sleep. This is life in the Philippines! Oh, for my nice, quiet, peaceful place in the Oklahoma countryside!!!Brotherly, Harry O.
