Breakfast fellowship today

Dear friend Pastor Tim Alanib who sends me daily words of wisdom has invited me to speak today at the Davao Christian Leaders breakfast fellowship.

He asked me to report on my work at the City Council.

I decided, however, to say something about my advocacy on blogging and citizens participation.

Four wives

Once upon a time there was a rich King who had four wives.

He loved the 4th wife the most and adorned her with rich robes and treated her to the finest of delicacies. He gave her nothing but the best.

He also loved the 3rd wife very much and was always showing her off to neighboring kingdoms. However, he feared that one day she would leave him for another.

He also loved his 2nd wife. She was his confidant and was always kind, considerate and patient with him. Whenever the King faced a problem, he could confide in her, and she would help him get through the difficult times.

The King's 1st wife was a very loyal partner and had made great contributions in maintaining his wealth and kingdom.

However, he did not love the first wife. Although she loved him deeply, he hardly took notice of her!

One day, the King fell ill and he knew his time was short. He thought of his luxurious life and wondered, I now have four wives with me, but when I die, I'll be all alone."

Thus, he asked the 4th wife, "I loved you the most, endowed you with the finest clothing and showered great care over you. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?" "No way!," replied the 4th wife, and she walked away without another word.

Her answer cut like a sharp knife right into his heart.

The sad King then asked the 3rd wife, "I loved you all my life. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?""No!," replied the 3rd wife. "Life is too good! When you die, I'm going to remarry!"

His heart sank and turned cold.

He then asked the 2nd wife, "I have always turned to you for help and you've always been there for me. When I die, will you follow me and keep me company?"

"I'm sorry, I can't help you out this time!," replied the 2nd wife. "At the very most, I can only walk with you to your grave."

Her answer struck him like a bolt of lightning, and the King was devastated.

Then a voice called out: "I'll go with you. I'll follow you no matter where you go.

"The King looked up, and there was his first wife. She was very skinny as she suffered from malnutrition and neglect.

Greatly grieved, the King said, "I should have taken much better care of you when I had the chance!"

In truth, we all have the four wives in our lives:

Our 4th wife is our body. No matter how much time and effort we lavish in making it look good, it will leave us when we die.

Our 3rd wife is our possessions, status and wealth. When we die, it will all go to others.
Our 2nd wife is our family and friends. No matter how much they have been there for us, the furthest they can stay by us is up to the grave.

And our 1st wife is our Soul. Often neglected in pursuit of wealth, power and pleasures of the world. However, our Soul is the only thing that will follow us wherever we go.

Cultivate, strengthen and cherish it now, for it is the only part of us that will follow us to the throne of God and continue with us throughout Eternity.

(From the email, author anonymous)

A different 10 commandments

TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR THOSE OVER FIFTY YEARS YOUNG

1. Face and accept the reality of getting old, its consequences and the limitations which growing old brings. Act and behave your age. Quit fooling yourself by trying to look like you were in your youth.

2. Focus on enjoying people, not on indulging in or accumulating material things.

3. Plan to spend whatever you have saved (i.e. die broke). You deserve to enjoy it and the few healthy years you have left. Travel if you can afford it. Don't leave anything for your children or loved ones to quarrel about. By leaving anything, you may even cause more trouble when you are gone.

4. Live in the here and now, not in the yesterdays and tomorrows.It is only today that you can handle. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow may not even happen.

5. Enjoy your grandchildren (if you are blessed with any) but don't be their full time baby sitter. You have no moral obligation to take care of them. Don't have any guilt about refusing to baby sit anyone's kids, including your own grandkids. Your parental obligation is to your children after you have raised them into responsible adults. Your duties of child-bearing and babysitting are finished. Let your children raise their own off springs.

6. Accept physical weakness, sickness and other physical pains. It is a part of the aging process. Enjoy whatever your health can allow.

7. Enjoy what you are and what you have right now. Stop working hard for what you do not have. If you do not have them, it's probably too late.

8. Just enjoy your life with your spouse, children, grandchildren and friends, people who truly love you, love you for yourself, not for what you have, anyone who loves you for what you have will just give you misery.

9. Forgive and accept forgiveness. Forgive yourself and others. Enjoy peace of mind and peace of soul.

10. Befriend death. It's a natural part of the life cycle. Don't be afraid of it. Death is the beginning of a new and better life. So, prepare yourself not for death but for a new life with Christ.

(email from Jun Pacquing, USA)

Post No. 13 - A deck of cards

It was quiet that day, the guns and the mortars, and land mines for some reason hadn’t been heard.

The young soldier knew it was Sunday, the holiest day of the week.

As he was sitting there, he got out an old deck of cards and laid them out across his bunk.

Just then an army sergeant came in and said, “Why aren’t you with the rest of the platoon?”

The soldier replied, “I thought I would stay behind and spend some time with the Lord.”

The sergeant said, “Looks to me like you’re going to play cards.”

The soldier said, “No, sir. You see, since we are not allowed to have Bibles or other spiritual books in this country, I’ve decided to talk to the Lord by studying this deck of cards.”

The sergeant asked in disbelief, “How will you do that?”

“You see the Ace, Sergeant? It reminds me that there is only one God.

The Two represents the two parts of the Bible, Old and New Testaments.

The Three represents the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost.

The Four stands for the Four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

The Five is for the five virgins there were ten but only five of them were glorified.

The Six is for the six days it took God to create the Heavens and Earth.

The Seven is for the day God rested after making His Creation.

The Eight is for the family of Noah and his wife, their three sons and their wives - the eight people God spared from the flood that destroyed the Earth.

The Nine is for the lepers that Jesus cleansed of leprosy. He cleansed ten, but nine never thanked Him.

The Ten represents the Ten Commandments that God handed down to Moses on tablets made of stone.

The Jack is a reminder of Satan, one of God’s first angels, but he got kicked out of heaven for his sly and wicked ways and is now the joker of eternal hell.

The Queen stands for the Virgin Mary.

The King stands for Jesus, for he is the King of all kings.

When I count the dots on all the cards, I come up with 365 total, one for every day of the year.

There are a total of 52 cards in a deck; each is a week - 52 weeks in a year.

The four suits represent the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.

Each suit has thirteen cards - there are exactly thirteen weeks in a quarter.

So when I want to talk to God and thank Him, I just pull out this old deck of cards and they remind me of all that I have to be thankful for.”

The sergeant just stood there. After a minute, with tears in his eyes and pain in his heart, he said, “Soldier, can I borrow that deck of cards?”

Please let this be a reminder and take time to pray for all of our soldiers who are being sent away, putting their lives on the line fighting.

Prayer for the Military. Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them. Bless them and their families. I ask this in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

Amen.

(Salamat to the unknown author)

Daily Gospel

August 14 Monday
Matthew 17: 22-27

Jesus went to all the trouble
Just to show us what is right;
If we can pay man-made taxes,
Surely we can't neglect the tithe.

Linking

Feedback from Chicago:

hi Ray, my name is Tippi Banlasan and I am the son of your uncle Ernesto in Cebu. I have not met you but I have heard of you. I know most your brothers and sisters and because of our age disparity, you have not met me. I am in Chicago Illinois now and trying to help Doris get a job here. Its nice to see pictures of you and your family. If you want to reach me my email is ernieb01@hotmail.com. I was searching the web for Banlasan and saw this in case you were wondering how I found it. Take care and regards to your family

Da Vinci movie rating

An interesting post from Pressing the Flesh.

Child Jesus

I came in late for this morning's breakfast meeting of the BCBP. For good reason. I was guest at the unveiling of a marker at Elenita Heights Phase 2 Subdivision in Catalunan Grande proclaiming it as a "child friendly village."

It was perhaps the first in the country.

Mintal parish priest Fr. Swamy Balananda gave a very inspiring prayer likening the subdivision's children to child Jesus. He likewsie paid tribute to Mother Mary who was in the faces of the committed parents to help rear their children in an environment filled with God's love.

The Indian priest, who has been serving here for the past six years, distributed some calendars. Part of which I cropped below:

At the BCBP meeting, the guest sharer was Larry Veloso.

Sorry we cannot feature his sharing here. It will appear in the June issue of Kapatiran, the BCBP publication.

DCL breakfast May 19

The Davao Christian Leadership breakfast fellowship on Friday, May 19, will have Commodore Edmund C. Tan as guest speaker and Rev. Peter Bollant as spiritual guideliner.

Pastor Tim Alanib reminds members to attend the weekly meeting at the Grand Men Seng Hotel starting at 7 a.m.

Murder convict turned "fisher"

His father was killed by a group of men. In retaliation, he also killed one. He went to prison for this deed.

He was a murder convict who turned to Jesus Christ while in prison. When he was freed, he sought the other men involved in his father's slaying and preached the word of God to them. There was no more remorse but only forgiveness as taught by Jesus Christ.

Now, he serves as a full-time "fisher" of men with his prison ministries through his music.

Chito R. Ruina was a long-time resident of the Bilibid Prison. Now, he sings the Good News.


He will hold a mini-concert on May 28 at 3 p.m. at the Tabucan Bldg. at corner Sigma and Surveyor Sts., Dona Vicenta Village infront of Victoria Plaza.

Proceeds of the concert "Palayain mo ako" will go to the Jesus Christ Son of the Living God Fellowship and Layang Rehas Ministries, Inc.