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)

"To Lend or Not To Lend" by: Bro. Malloy Cabahug

Have you been approached by a brethren, a friend, or a relative and asking you "can you lend me a few bucks?" How have you reacted? What was your response?

This scenario is not uncommon to most, if not all of us. In most cases, this type of a scenario ends bitterly as relationship has now shifted to one being a slave to the other. (Proverbs 22:7)

The three common reasons I have observed why a brethren, a friend or a relative borrows:

• To pay-off a maturing obligation from credit cards, bank loan, or worst from loan sharks, while his or her cash will only be available in the next couple or so days.

• To augment the available fund use to pay an item he or she purchased that accordingly is a discount purchase of something he or she thinks a necessity (in most cases are stuff that one can live without like a cellphone) while his or her salary or loan application will not be released until the next couple or so days.

• To be used for a necessity, like an emergency that happens in a family such as, but not limited to purchase of medicine or for hospitalization.

The reasons could be numerous and varied, but will most likely revolve around these general cases. Whatever it falls into one should take extra caution in just pulling out your cash on the wallet and indiscriminately give it to your friend. You may putting friendship as more important than money as you empathized with the need.

However, you might consider another angle on this scenario. Have you not thought that in giving in with their request and lending them with your extra cash, you are just aggravating their problem.

The worst thing you would do is to borrow in order to lend to your friend. Or sign as a guarantor for your friend. But, these things will be discussed in a separate topic soon.

You may consider the following before lending your precious cash, again with the assumption that by doing so will not strain your own budget:

• You are not teaching him or her to get out of debt and manage his or her finances wisely. As you lend to someone to pay off the maturing debts, and once his or her cash is already available your money could either be paid back as promised or payment postponed. If the former case happens, well and good, but remember there will always be next time until the amount borrowed will gradually increase. If the latter case happens, just pray and be ready for the event that such indebtedness will be forgotten due to its continued postponement of payment. In short, you have not dealt the problem, which is the mismanagement of your brethren, friend or relative's finances, worst you have taught him or her to even get into trouble.

• If it is for purchase of a stuff, you are approving of his or her addiction to indiscriminate shopping. You are allowing him or her to purchase some luxurious items, that without it, he or she could still live. Instead, why not advise him or her the virtues of saving.

• As for the third, you may double check on the claim that the money being borrowed is really for a legitimate need. There are a lot of people who are just making up stories for them just to get what they wanted. Your cash. Granting it is a legitimate need as claimed it to be, then by all means, provide help and not a loan. Make sure that the help you will provide will not strain your budget, no more no less.

The next time your brethren, friend or relative would approach you for a loan pause, gather enough information and ask: "to lend or not to lend?"

You may also remember this quote from William Shakespeare in his literary work Hamlet: "neither a borrower nor a lender be, for loan oft losses both itself and friend."

Nobody But You by Bro. Malloy Cabahug

Hmmm...for those who knew the song might have already been singing the tune. I can even sense someone is dancing while singing the tune. What comes to your mind upon reading the title might be the famous danceable song by a Korean girl group, wonder girls.

I may have been singing and dancing with this song the last couple of days with my daughters and in front of my wife. However, a deeper meaning of the phrase kept bugging me for the past week.

I have been consistent with my articles on personal finance every week for quite sometime now. It have been a fixture in the daily newsletter of our church, Word International Ministries - Al Ain (WIN-Al Ain). Some online friends had even featured some of my articles in their weblogs. And a number of personal messages I have been receiving are very encouraging to continue on to come up with more articles about personal finance.

My articles, as well as those of the famous authors and bloggers out there are very encouraging. There are even a lot of books and other multi media materials available out there that will fix your financial woes--that will, as they say, reveal the secrets to become rich and being debt free. But, mind you, these are all inutile if these are only read and not taken to heart.

Taking to heart all these materials available means that you should realize that an overhaul of oneself is necessary to make these materials effective.

This piece you are reading right now is especially addressed to those who are deeply in debt. You may have been seeking for somebody whom you could ask for help, in terms of advice or financial help. There are so many people who are willing to help, but their efforts to help will only aggravate your situation if you will not address the real problem, YOU; and not the lack of money.

I may sound so mean here. But, let me pose these questions:

• who caused you to be deeply in debt?
  
• who used that plastic money called credit card?
  
• who decided to buy a luxury car instead of an ordinary one that could still serve the same purpose?
  
• who bought those unecessary and expensive stuffs that is way beyond one's income?
  
• who went to some place as tourist using credit cards as the means of paying that luxurious vacation and having nothing in your account to payoff the bills after 45 days?

Those list could go on and on and the resounding answer is one and the same. And you answered it correctly. YOU.

The real source of the problem is your attitude towards money and the way you spend it. Hence, there will be no amount of advice, tips and techniques on how to free from debt to take effect without first dealing your attitude.

If you are in debt right now and badly needs help, be it counseling or financing, or a combination of both, please humble yourself and accept the fact that the real problem is not your debts. Not your neighbor. Not your brethren.

Then who? Nobody, but YOU.