"What If" by Bro, Malloy Cabahug

What if I get promoted this year? What if I get a salary raise this year? What if I get a bonus this year? What if I win a million in the lottery? Would it bring me joy and happiness?

On the negative note, what if I get laid off? What if there will be no salary increase this year? What if I or one of the members of my household gets sick? Would it be the end of the road for me?

Dealing with the aforementioned “what ifs” is tantamount to putting your security to your economic standing or your finances. You may feel secure or insecure when you gain or lose financially.

Our economic standing is of course an important aspect of our living. However, most of us, especially those whose life is manipulated by those mentioned “what ifs” are putting their economic standing as the most, if not the only important aspect of their life.

When Jesus countered the enticement of the devil during His forty-days of fasting, it was shown that everything that pleases the physical is way less important than those that pertains to your soul and spirit. Is He not also teaching that we should lay up heavenly treasures as opposed to earthly treasures? For the former has eternal value while the latter will rot and be taken away by various circumstances.

In as much as God is teaching us to worry more on spiritual matters than material, He also is gracious enough to providing us the lessons. He gave us the Bible for our instructions and guide for righteous living.

The Bible is rich in practical lessons about personal finance that every Christian should learn and live by. Some of them, which I may have already included in my previous articles, are as follows: warning about the dangers of borrowing; prohibition about entering into a surety agreement; the blessing attached to cheerful giving or sharing of your wealth; the importance of budgeting and saving for the rainy days; living a life of contentment; and many other lessons, if you just devote a time unleashing the truth in them.

Continuing on with your faithful devotion of God’s word, will turn those “what ifs” to a sense of security over your future, no matter what. Your present and future will always be secure with God no matter what the economic situation may bring.

You can always count on God and nothing from this world. What if God is not in us, do can the world assure you of joy and fullness of your life?

Prosperity Beyond the Eyes of this World by Bro. Malloy Cabahug

A lot of well wishers are saying as a form of greeting anyone for the new year "a prosperous new year ahead." It may also be written all over the greeting cards or any other correspondences as of late.

Prosperity as this world views it pertains to economic abundance. It is always attached with monetary value. The volume of ones bank account. The total assets in ones possession. The networth of an individual. And the lack of narrated material items of value is the exact opposite.

Simply put, prosperity according how the world is attached to money or material wealth. More often than not, money is associated with greed. While greed is the main trigger point of any evil things one can do.

A man steal for want of something beyond his own means. Prostitution has been resorted to for want to earn the easy way. One may cheat his way up to accumulate wealth. A politician receives bribe for easy money and recover what was spent during the campaign period. The list could go on and on, and the bottom line of every possible list we could think of is greed.

Every item in the ten commandments of God is broken because of love of money. That is why Jesus is sternly warning us that we can not serve both God and money.

What the world missed therefore is the fact that prosperity is beyond wealth. Our health, both physical and spiritual should not be forgotten. What our senses can not see is far greater than anything else.

When we first came to this world we bring nothing. We were born naked and nothing of material value attached to us. To dust we will return with nothing on hand, everything left behind when we die.

This is not to say that saving is no longer an option because we may not bring this when we die. Saving is still paramount. The real spirit of the statement here is that of excessive accumulation of wealth as an indication of prosperity.

What is emphasized here then is to at least balance your material gain and the intangible aspect of your life, which is your health and your spiritual life. In fact, it is even highly recommended to give the paramount importance to the latter than the former.

As St. Paul encouraged Timothy in his letter saying, contentment with godliness is great gain. Therefore, with the economic situation for the year 2010 is still unpredictable, our battle cry is to be content, save and borrow no more, and nurture your spirits.

Pastor's New Year Message 2010

Pastor’s New Year Message 2010 2 Tim 2:2 (NKJV) And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 2 Tim 2:14-15 (NKJV) Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. 15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth My family and I would like to greet one and all a very Happy & Blessed New Year 2010! It is that time of year again (actually the first day) when we celebrate with great hope and expectations of good things to come. Actually each New Year has its ups and downs. Human nature tends to forget (or even denies) the downs and always remembers and expects only the ups. We have this indomitable spirit to believe that the good will always come our way. Let us remember that as we approach the second coming of the Lord, things will become worse and worse. These are the signs of the last days according to Matthew 24: Matt 24:3-31 (NKJV) The Signs of the Times and the End of the Age 1) "For many will come in Jesus’ name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. 2) "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 3) "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 4) And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 "All these are the beginning of sorrows. 5) "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. 6) "And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 7) "Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 8) "And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 9) "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. To deny these things is to deny the truthfulness of God’s Word. Many false teachers will rise and will teach that things are going to get better. But the Bible says: 1 Thess 5:1-6 (NKJV) But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 2 Peter 2:1-3 (NKJV) But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber. Peter said that there WILL BE false teachers who will secretly bring in destructive heresies within the Church. This is the reason why the Lord has impressed in my heart that 2010 annual Church Theme will be “TRAINING TEACHERS OF TRUTH (3T).” This was confirmed by God during our Friday School Teachers’ Retreat last Dec 2-3, 2009. During our WICL training with Ps Philip Curva in 2009, some of our leaders took the Hermeneutics and Homiletics course that enabled them to rightly divide the word of truth. It was a great success and WIN Al Ain was the first church in the UAE to complete it. We have successfully raised up Teachers of Truth that will accurately present God’s Word. It is the call and mandate of God for all workers in our church to undergo the same training since we know the sign of the end times are upon us. We were so encouraged by this that we will conduct the same training for those who missed last year’s sessions. Please wait for future announcements. I am calling upon all workers of this church to rise up and be trained the right way of explaining God’s word to the people. This will take diligence and effort but I will assure everyone that this training is worth all the sacrifice. You will become a better Christian because through this training you will better understand God’s word accurately and thus enabling you to be confident, effective and powerful in teaching the brethren. Instead of relying on books written by other Christian authors (there is nothing wrong with Godly, Spirit-filled authors and their works), but now each one of us will receive direct teachings from the Bible itself and this will give us authority. You will receive first hand truths from God Himself (no longer second hand knowledge from others). Your life will become more exciting than ever for you yourselves will feel that God is going to use you in a very personal and unique like never before. Get ready to move to the next level! Make yourselves available this year and be a TEACHER OF TRUTH! May the Lord bless you, your family and ministries with His favor and power this 2010! Ps Edward, Sis. Marlene, David John and Sally Joy!

Pastor’s Christmas Message

Matt 2:11 (NKJV) And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. My family and I would like to greet one and all a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year! Today the whole world commemorates the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! It has been disputed for countless years if December 25 is actually the date of our Lord’s birth. What is more important is that God has sent His Son Jesus to be born as a babe that who would grow up to be the Lamb Of God takes away the sins of the world through His death on the cross. Because of this we rejoice that God has given us a Deliverer. Hallelujah to His name forever! During Christmas time, people all over celebrate with joy and gladness. Parties and gift giving are part and parcel of the season. Merry making and drunkenness are often associated with the coming of Christmas. Very few actually know how to celebrate it according to God’s WORD. The “first” Christmas (aka the Birth of Christ) was commemorated by the wise men by worshipping the Christ Child. They did not worship her but “HIM!” Nor did they worship any human being but the Messiah. And they showed their adoration through giving gifts not to each other nor to somebody else but only to HIM! The event was only focus on Jesus! We have missed out on the true meaning of the incarnation. We have transformed Christmas as a way of enjoying ourselves through countless shopping and fun filled activities instead on focusing on our worship of Jesus. The Father in heaven is seeking such to worship Him in Spirit and in truth. If Christmas is all about worship, then every time we gather in His Name to worship is Christmas. Christmas Day is the remembrance of how God came among us as Emmanuel (God with us). God inhabits our praises and visits the Church every time we gather in His name. Psalms 22:3 (Darby) And thou art holy, thou that dwellest amid the praises of Israel Matt 18:20 (NKJV) "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them." Christmas to us means that we do not wait for a specific day of the year. With joy we await His coming again to His people through our worship unto Him every time we come together in His name. This means that joy and gladness should be a year round experience. When I realized this glorious truth, I no longer wait for December 25 to rejoice. I finally outgrown the traditional Christmas but rather celebrate His Presence every time we worship Him all year round. For me, Christmas is all year round! 1 John 4:14-16 (NKJV) And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. May the Christ of Christmas be born no longer in a manger but in every person’s heart! From our family, Merry Christmas to all! Ps Edward, Sis. Marlene, David John and Sally Joy Barcial

Paul Wilbur Worship Conference

Last November 26, 2009, some members of the praise and worship team was able to attend VOICE - Praise and Worship Seminar by Paul Wilbur in Dubai.

The members of the P& W Team who were present at the event:

Bro. Don Joaquin - Music Ministry Head
Sis. Charry Contaoi - Dance Ministry Head
Bro. Paul Mojica - Song Leader
Bro. Lorex Contaoi - Drums
Bro. Manny Reyes - Keyboards
Bro. Robert Leonardo - Guitar
Bro. Noli Cesumicion - Sound Technician

Paul Wilbur is an American singer-songwriter, worship leader, and pastor

WIN-Al Ain was among the many churches that attended the said event

The WIN-Al Ain Praise and Worship Team
(l-r: Bro. Manny, Bro. Robert, Bro. Paul, Sis. Charry, Bro. Lorex, Bro. Don)

Bro. Noli with Andy (Sound Engineer)

Bro. Lorex with Carl Albrecht (drummer)