Tall Order

Half way through 2007 [my] Pastor Joe [DiSarno] preached about the qualities of God's love. Agape love looks so different from man's concept of love. Agape thinks more about the welfare of others than the welfare of self. Agape gives more than it takes. Agape is more than just feelings.

As Pastor Joe spoke on the matter over a period of a few weeks, I began to think that agape -- unconditional love -- is such a tall order. It's the kind that is not based on feelings. It's the kind that's always extravagant. It's the kind that's always willing to make sacrifices. At the end of this series of sermons, two questions came to mind: who can measure up to such high standards, and can I measure up to such high standards?

The answers? Well, to the first one -- Jesus measured up to the standards. He was born without sin. He lived a life without sin. He modeled love at its purest, highest form. He was compassionate to the corrupt, kind to the poor, merciful to the sinner, open to the oppressed. Yet His love was firm and strong and He wasn't afraid to dish out tough love when necessary. He made the most extravagant sacrifice that anyone can make -- He laid down His life for His friends... and enemies. He loved when it felt good. He loved when it hurt. He loved even when no one reciprocated. He loved completely, ultimately, unconditionally.

To the second -- by God's grace I can [attempt / hope] to measure up to the standard.

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Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

Called to War. Called to Intimacy.

Things are quite dynamic now in my spiritual life. I mean, everything I hear from the pulpit, read in my personal devotional times, and receive from the Holy Spirit are all in sync. The Lord has been leading me to very specific places in the heavenlies lately. He's called me to a time of war and deeper intimacy.

This has been confirmed through the preachings of Pastor Nap, my Bible readings (right now on the Prophet Isaiah), and through the Elijah List website. Particularly today, the prophetic word on that website centers on the anointing of Elijah and how his deep intimacy with God led him to the world scene where God's power was made unmistakably evident in his life and ministry.

Intimacy is the key to authority. Intimacy is the key to warfare. Intimacy is the key to a successful Christian life. This is what the Lord has been speaking to me through the ministers in my church. And the Holy Spirit has been teaching me to live these out.

Plus, Pastor Nap has also been prophesying over the men of Maranatha Christian Fellowship that the Lord is really drawing us nearer to His heart and leading us to weep over the nation. So be it Lord.

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Father, lead the men of our house and of our nation to a deeper, more intimate relationship with You. Raise us up to be the warriors and leaders You have called us to be. Let Your heart beat in ours, so that we can care for the things You care for. In Jesus' name. Amen.

'Forever' and a Day

The New Life Sounds Choir had a very fruitful season of evangelism this Christmas. We presented our 2007 holiday cantata entitled "Christmas is Forever" at Cinema 1 of SM Cebu and got a huge response from people who were seeking the Lord. It was a powerful cantata and many of our brethren said it was heavily anointed. I think we all felt the anointing on the ministry that day.

More than 500 people responded to the invitation to receive Jesus Christ into their lives during the cantata presentations in the afternoon and in the evening. Talk about getting a big harvest. The net was cast. Now the job of pulling the fish in begins. I pray, along with my congregation and fellow ministers, that all of the seeds sown will find fertile ground for growth and fruitfulness. Help us usher them to the kingdom, Lord, so we can disciple them and teach them your ways.

For this season of ministry with the choir, I'd say the Lord has taken us -- individually and corporately -- to yet another level of dependence on Him, another level of receiving and extending His grace, another level of intimacy that translated to a more powerful time of ministry during the cantata. Everybody who put in their time, talent, energy and heart into the production and presentation of the musical sowed not only in the physical but also in the spiritual, which is why I believe the Lord moved so mightily last December 8 at SM.

Kudos to all the members of the New Life Sounds Choir: the singers, the dancers, the actors, the stage directress, the choir directress, the kids' choir and dance team, the cantata support group, the backstage/behind the scenes crew, the sound and light crew, the narrators, the logistics team, the connectors, the consolidators, the facilitators, the ushers, the intercessors and everyone who did their best for the Lord. All glory and honor goes to Jesus for what He has accomplished.

Up next: the Easter cantata! Haha!

A Prophetic History

I was googling my last name the other day in an attempt to find more descriptions of a place in Spain called Machacon. I even searched in Wikipedia with very minimal results. Went back to Google and found a very interesting piece of my family's history online.

It turns out one of my ancestors, Nicomedes Machacon, was one of the revolutionaries who fought against the 400-year Spanish colonial rule. When I read the articles at Leon Kilat and Cebu's Revolution, I got a sudden sense of alignment and confirmation of my destiny. I am a warrior intercessor who descended from a local revolutionary. How awesome is that?

Somebody in my lineage sowed a great prophetic act into my life by fighting for freedom from colonial oppression years ago. And I guess my mother and brother also prophesied over me as a kid when they teasingly called me a "freedom fighter" because I would uphold rights at a young age.

And recently, I researched on my first given name -- Michael -- and got into deeper study on the original owner of the name, the Archangel himself. He is a warrior angel, the leader of the Armies of Heaven. His name in itself was a worship to the Almighty One: "Who is like God?" It is no accident that I was given this name, in the same way it is no accident that I am a descendant of one of Cebu's revolutionaries.

And now...

...it's time to fight!

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"Stand firm in the armor of our God
And pierce the darkness with light
All praise to the overcoming God
Let us lift our sword and fight!"

Indescribable

This is Man.

This is Earth.

This is the Solar System.

This is the Milky Way.

And further out... the Horsehead Nebula.

And further still... the Sombrero Galaxy.

Even further still... the Hourglass Nebula.

Way out there still... the Perfect Storm Nebula.

Way, waaay out there... the Starry Night Galaxy.

And really waaaay out there... the Whirlpool Galaxy.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
-- Psalm 19:1-2

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
-- Psalm8:3-4

My Seasons in the River

I've been with the Maranatha Christian Fellowship in Cebu for four years now and looking back, the Lord has brought me through many seasons with the congregation and in my personal life.

I joined MCF in 2003, in the time when the congregation went through a season of shifting. During this season, I got swept into the river and began my flow -- my journey -- into true spiritual growth. This was also the time when I started my involvement with the MCF New Life Sounds Choir. 2003 will always be a big spiritual touchstone for me as I consider it my spiritual birth year. I really felt welcomed into the river during the September 2003 Let the River Flow prophetic conference. I literally felt growth in my spirit beginning here.

As the years passed and as I began to grow more in the river, God also brought me through a season of testing and waiting. There was this dream of mine that I have had for such a long time and I thought it had been answered in 2003. I have been seeking the Lord about the fulfillment of this dream and for two years -- 2004 and 2005 -- I had been in a season of waiting on Him. It was one of the most trying times in my life. The things I thought I knew and claimed were put through the fire. But the Lord's assurance to me was through the prophet Isaiah: they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. And renew my strength He did! Looking back at that time I can say those waiting periods really molded me and trained me in pursuit of the King.

I was also brought through a season of labor and more responsibilities -- particularly in the choir. The Lord gave me some seemingly unsurmountable stuff back in 2006 pertaining to our cantata presentations and I felt thoroughly overwhelmed. But it was God's way of training my hands for war and for more. The bigger the load I got, the more dependent I became on Him. This season taught me to do the best that I can, to trust God to do the rest and rest in Him when I've done my best. He is in control after all. Not me.

Finally, the changing of seasons in the last month has brought me and my congregation -- and presumably, the nation -- to a season of war. It's now time to contend for the lost of this nation. It's time to take back by force what belongs to the Lord. It's time to stand on the authority that God has given us over this nation and over the oppressing spirits in this nation.

The preaching in the church lately has been focusing on recognizing the seasons, knowing the proper response for the season, and learning to flow with the Spirit this season. I liked Pastor Nap's word of encouragement during the revival service last night: God is drawing the men of this house (MCF) to Him and giving them the heart of Jesus so that they will care for the things God cares for; this is a season for men to become more sensitive to the things of God and the presence of God. I believe this. I feel it. God is calling the men of MCF to a deeper intimacy with Him and that intimacy will result in a heart of stone being traded for a heart of flesh -- a heart that always longs for more of the Lord.

It is an exciting season here in the Philippines and -- based on the prophecies on Elijah List -- all over the world. There is just so much more that God can do that we have not even begun to imagine or think. Ha! He's just about to blow the Philippines away! I KNOW IT!

A Day of Religion

I was having lunch at the office cafeteria the other day when I overheard some co-workers talk about the topic of religion. They were discussing how some religions have become a "business", with men of the cloth duping laymen and using the name of God for unscrupulous purposes. Listening to their conversation made me think about the truths of their argument (yes, there are certain religious sects that have made faith a cash cow for personal gain) and the fallacies of their thesis (there are true believers of Christ and servants of the One True God that serve Him wholeheartedly for the benefit of others).

I was also saddened how many ungodly wolves in sheep's clothing have tarnished the image of Christianity -- or any religion for that matter -- and as a result, have led astray many people genuinely seeking God. We need to come against these spirits of greed, deception and manipulation as these are present in our country.

Prior to having lunch, a friend of mine at work asked me what religion I belonged to. I had a hard time answering him. I ended up muttering, "Uhm... I don't have one." Haha! Discomfort sat it. Frankly, I still don't know how to answer this question. I would sometimes answer, "I'm a Pentecostal Christian!" But does that really cover it all? I mean, I have always heard it said in church that Christianity is not a religion but an intimate relationship with Christ. So, I lived most of my Christian life eschewing the label of religion.

But according to Wikipedia, "religion is a set of common beliefs and practices generally held by a group of people," and most dictionaries' definition of the word "religion" pretty much describes some of the things that are involved in my relationship with God. I guess part of the reason why I don't consider myself religious or belonging to any religion is because there is -- whether I like it or not -- an existing stigma attached to religious groups and sects. And this leads to the discussion I heard at lunch time (above paragraph).

*Sigh* There is still so much to learn about the whole religion-relationship thing, and although I'm still not comfortable with the religion label, I totally have no problem with the relationship tag -- that's a more succinct description of what I have with the Lord.

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"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." -- James 1:27

Blogs of Blessing

I've been scanning Blogger profiles today, looking for other believers online. While doing so, I aslo came across quite a few "naughty" ones that made my thoughts "stray". It frustrates me that sometimes I can't help but follow a certain train of thought that I know isn't going to please God. Today was one of those sometimes.

Anyway, as I was gathering more URLs of Blogger blogs, I came across one that belongs to an 18-year-old Christian guy who hit the nail on the head with regard to my frustration.

John also had a similar frustration and he talks about it in an entry in his blog, fervently.run.the.race. I particularly like the encouraging word his pastor gave to him: "That is proof that you ARE for real. Before, you did all these things but it didn't bother you. Now, you are living for the Spirit. When you do them it bothers you so you notice your sin more."

I was blessed by this guy's blog, and even more blessed to find many other Christian bloggers that are sharing their lives, testimonies and victories online.

Check out The Radiant Ones [my blogroll] on the left panel of this blogsite to visit John's weblog and of the others I found here in Blogger.

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"But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called 'Today', so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. " -- Hebrews 3:13 NASB

Underneath My Skin

Courage was never a question
Choosing the right thing was
Bravery is not a suggestion
Believing the merits of a cause

Faith is not a matter of seeing
Feelings are a desert mirage
Love will not always come freely
Liberty comes at a cost

Joy can be occasionally elusive
Justice can be quite the same
Truth is not often as blatant
Trust may some times be to blame

Hope is an inexpensive luxury
Happiness isn't always bliss
Doubt can be a missing guitar string
Devotion may lead you amiss

Corruption is a bucket of water
Correction is the leak below
Eternity takes forever to capture
Emotion is a toddler in tow

Wisdom may not be an assurance
Wealth cannot shelter the soul
Failure can be one's insurance
Foolishness can make another whole

Curiosity can last a lifetime
Conundrums may never cease
Maturity can happen in seconds
Misery may afford sweet release

Peace is not a bird that flies
Promises should not be brittle
Fame may not sing lullabyes
Freedom cannot be belittled

As random as randomness can be
Tell me now what to do with these
Bits and pieces of what I believe in
All merge, entagled underneath my skin

From the Last Season

It has been such an intense season, the one that just passed by recently. It was, in hindsight, God's way of training my hands for battle and arming me with strength to make my way perfect. The circumstances aren't any easier now than they were in the past season but with the lessons the Lord taught me then, I feel more equipped to face the challenges of this new season -- with God's grace of course. After all, what doesn't kill you will only make you stronger.

The lessons that I have had to learn in the past several months included the discerning of spirits, the exercising of faith and total dependence on God, and the bending of the ego to an even lower level of humility. And if there is one word that I would use to describe how I felt in the last season it would be stretched. I really felt the Lord stretching my spirit to see how much more I can have of Him, and my body to see how much more of my flesh can be submitted to His will.

At the start of the new season, I believe that the Lord has anointed me and equipped me to take on the things that are yet to come. With the lessons I learned in the last season and the encouragements that culminated with the propetic conference last month, I really believe that God has trained my hands for war, lifted me up to a new level of dependence on Him, and gave me His supernatural strength to soar in this season of war!