A Time to Welcome, A Time to Say Goodbye

by NORMAN S. LAO      

    

Personal Narrative

This afternoon we took my sister and her husband to the airport. They are going back to Chicago tomorrow. I can’t believe five weeks is already gone. How time flew! It seemed only yesterday when we fetched her at the airport with welcome banners and large smiles. Now we are seeing her off – no banners and only half smiles. I do not know when we will meet again. It was a sad occasion. We gathered outside the Airport’s departure area and prayed for their safe travel. After exchanging kisses and goodbyes with family and friends they entered the building and boarded their plane.  We made our way to the tip of the runway where we could watch (and record by video camera) their plane take off.  I felt very sad.

Reflection

I can somehow relate to how the disciples felt when Jesus told them He was going away (John 13:36 and 14:1-3). Three years was up and the Lord had to go. The disciples thought, or hoped, Jesus would stay permanently, but He wasn’t going to – at least not for now.  As the writer of the Book of Ecclesiastes wisely observed, there is, indeed, a time for everything. A time to welcome and a time to say goodbye. The time for saying goodbye happened 2000 years ago. The time for welcoming might be in my lifetime! Maranatha!

Prayer

Dear Lord, it seems that nothing is permanent in this world. Help me, O, Lord, to appreciate and value people, relationships, friendships and things that really matter while they last. Help me to make the most of my time especially with those whom I love and care for. In Your Name, Amen.

It’s Not A Movie

by NORMAN S. LAO

Personall Narrative 

Last Sunday morning I woke up with the news of a coup d’état in progress in Makati.  I hurriedly went upstairs to my office to watch the event on TV.  So, while I was making the final touches to my message for the service that morning my eyes were riveted on the picture tube before me.  Channel 3 had an aerial coverage of the alleged coup.  There were men in camouflage uniforms with high-powered weapons on the roof deck of Oakwood.  Reporters told the public that there were soldiers occupying all 18 floors of the building.  They were estimated to be several hundreds in number. On the ground there was no small stir as truckloads of government troops were deployed to cordon the area.

As I sat there watching the event unfold I began to enjoy the “show” as if I was watching just another war movie. I forgot for a moment that this was real and that it could greatly impact our nation and the lives of our people in negative and devastating ways.

Suddenly a voice from within me said, “Stop watching, pray!”  The realization dawned on me that this was not a show, that this was real life, that those people out there in Makati are not paid actors and actresses but real people in a real world doing real things. I promptly interceded asking the Lord to intervene and resolve the conflict without any bloodshed.

The president issued the rebels a deadline at 5 p.m. that afternoon.  I was not worried. I have prayed. When the 5 p.m. deadline drew near things happened so that the president gave an extension. The deadline was now set at 7 p.m. God was there! Late that Sunday night, after the negotiations, several hundred rebel soldiers with their officers marched out of Oakwood in what is another peaceful and bloodless resolution to what could have been a major catastrophe.  Thank you Lord!

Reflection

God answers prayers. Jesus said in Matthew 7:7 “ask and you shall receive…”  The concept of prayer has always intrigued me.  God is sovereign, but he “needs” our prayers for Him to work out His will on earth.  He could give us what we need, but He wants us to pray, “give us this day our daily bread…” God could have intervened last Sunday without the prayers of His people, but He chooses to carry out His will within the boundaries of our prayers.  This makes prayer the most important Christian activity on earth.  Is that to say that what is happening in our world today is a reflection of the prayer life of the church?  What a chilling thought! With the deluge of sin and perversion in the world today it is a chilling thought indeed!  May there be a revival of prayer in the church of Christ.

I have resolved in my heart to pray harder and more often.

Prayer

Father in heaven, I am sorry for not spending enough time in prayer as I know I should. Help me not to look for time to pray, but help  me to make time. Cause a great revival of prayer to sweep the churches across the nation. May what happened last Sunday serve as a wake-up call for all of us. Bless our nation with peace. Help our leaders to set the good example for all to follow. Uproot corruption from our nation, dear God, and purify our land. Bring healing to our nation. Bring healing to the church. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Hunger Of A Different Kind

by NORMAN S. LAO

Personal Narrative 

Because I often go to school without having breakfast I am forced (by my grumbling stomach) to eat it during my vacant periods in the morning. I found a nice place in front of CPU. Chickensaya is the name of the small restaurant from where I satisfy my hunger. 

Eric, the owner, is a cousin-in-law of mine. One day he asked me where our church is. He and his whole family went to church three Sundays ago. Since then I observed a hunger for the Word of God begin to grow in Eric’s life.  There seems to be no end to his questions.  I noticed that he reads the Bible with gusto.  A week ago I lent him a book on the Great Doctrines of the Christian faith and I printed him a couple of materials to get him started.  He gobbled up the whole thing! Feeding him is like feeding a dog that hasn’t eaten for a week (pardon the analogy)!

So, as he feeds me hamburgers, hotdogs, longanisas (I pay my bill, of course), I feed him the Word. Before, I went to Chickensaya to feed my stomach, now I go there to feed another person’s soul as well. Communicating the Gospel and unlocking the width, depth and height of the Scriptures to a hungry soul is such a satisfying and fulfilling experience.

Reflection

Matthew 4:4 tells us that “man should not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.”  There is a hunger for physical food of which most of us are familiar with. However, there is a hunger that is not so familiar to a lot of people: the hunger for the Word of God.  Many Christians today hunger for “other” things, that is, everything other than the things of God!

I Peter 2:2 encourages us to feed on the Word for our spiritual growth.  One reason why many Christians are weak and defeated is because the Bible has been a closed book for them. Psalm 119:9 asks, “How can a young man keep his way pure?” and it also provides the answer: “By living according to your word.”  Psalm 119:11 is even clearer: “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”

May there be a revival of this hunger for God and the Bible in the churches and seminaries that claim to be His. 

Prayer

Father, thank you so much for causing your Word to be written.  Thank you for causing it to be preserved all throughout the millennia with the blood of your martyrs. It is awfully sad however, dear Lord, that, in our busyness and desire to advance ourselves in this world, we have sorely neglected and forgotten it. May you bring a deep desire and longing in our hearts for your Word again. Revive our love for the Bible. Revive our love for You, O, God. Restore to us our first love.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.