My husband and I are here in Amherst, Massachusetts, for a short visit to our daughter Christine and her husband Neal. We arrived in this time when the fall colors are on their brightest.  This is my first time to see the awesome beauty of the autumn season.  Wherever I turn, the sight is glorious as the trees give out   a magnificent display of their leaves in varying  shades of orange, yellow, red and purple.  I ran short of words to describe God’s wondrous work.   At times, trees appear as if they were burning before my eyes. As the morning sun appears, it casts  a magical glow on every tree…

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The following message was delivered on Sunday morning, February 24, 2008 in the adult Sunday school class at Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

Now, then, secondly, I want to identify the 10 things that most frequently tempt men to think unclean thoughts. This is not an exhaustive list, but I have run it by my fellow elders. I have run it by some others and I believe I am accurate in saying these are 10 triggers to lustful thoughts. Let me use this image. These are like magnets in a women’s dress, magnets that draw men’s eyes to parts of their bodies that if they are to maintain purity of mind they don’t want their…

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The Lord has blessed everyone  with  various talents and skills. Some seem to have extra-ordinary gifts while others  may appear  to be  simply “average”.

 

The difference with the “talented”  and the “master of none” is that the former spends time to  discover and cultivate his/her God-given talents, while the latter is contented in admiring the giftedness of others. The fact is, most people failed to discover and develop their gifts.

 

Developing our gifts requires a lot of self-discipline and determination. Commitment  is what we need so we can be what we want to be in life. John Mason, in his book, A Man Called Average, said that if we…

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It was September 7, 2010, when I volunteered to teach my native language (Tagalog)  to  six  spouses of expatriates.   Women of different nationalities – Chinese, Swedish, English, Indian, Japanese , a Canadian and myself – met regularly every Tuesdays from 10:00 to 12:00 in the morning which was later moved from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. The ladies  took turns  in hosting the class.  I drove to their place in the enclave of the expats which is like a secret garden in the heart of our town. A sumptuous merienda was prepared by the host every meeting, while I brought  my white board and marker, together with my desire to share…

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“A time to be born, and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted”.

Ecclesiastes 3:2

God  appointed the birth and death of every living creature.  But between birth and death is the work of God in us, accomplishing His purpose in our lives. If we are with God, our lives will slowly blossom  into  full fruition for God’s glory.  If not, we are like sheep led to the slaughterhouse.

Between life and death, we can actively seek for solid happiness. In the Lord we can find it, outside of God, we search in vain.

That productive gap between life…

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The thrill and delight I see in the faces of children as they play computer games and play stations bring  back precious memories of my fun-filled childhood years.  When we were young, we didn’t have money for toys, and having a television set was beyond our imagination. But out of sticks, tin cans, and stones, we were able to build a world of our own. A world of fun and laughter a thousand miles apart from the electronic games of today.

Patentero, luksong tinik, piko, taguan, habulan, sikyo and tinda-tindahan, were some of the games we used to play. Tinda-tindahan was my favorite. We arranged various kinds of leaves, stones, and seeds on our makeshift stores. Our specialty was green…

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My good friend passed by while I was parking my car. In my excitement to greet my long-time friend, I carelessly locked the door of my car. And lo and behold… I left the key in the ignition!  After a brief chat, I had no choice but to go back home and get my spare key.  Riding the pedicab was the easiest way to get back.

In no time, a young man was pedaling my way back – a whole 15 minutes  of non-stop, muscle-powered ride. As the pedicab moved slowly along a narrow path, I felt a wonderful, unique feeling as the soft wisp of breeze cooled my face. I experienced a sense of closeness to nature as cogon…

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Thirty three years ago, after my husband and I graduated from college, we decided that I should stay at home to take care of our then, one year old daughter. It was in obedience to the design of God for mothers to “be keepers of home” as stated in Titus 2:4-5. I also read a little green book on child training which said that formative years are critical in child’s development and that they imbibe the values and manners of the person who spends more time with them. To leave them in the care of a yaya or helper was not a good option for us.

That decision, l learned later on, was not a walk in the park. I…

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Facts and figures about violence in women is heartbreaking. Globally, about 70% of women in their lifetime have experienced physical or sexual violence, ironically, from their husbands or partners. In the United States alone, 1/3 of women murdered each year are killed by intimate partners. Of the estimated 800,000 people trafficked annually, 80% are girls and women, and majority of them (79%) have been sexually exploited. These are just a few facts cited by Saynotoviolence.org. It is a glaring but painful truth. The men who are supposed to take care of women have become their oppressors.

Failure of men to protect and promote the well-being of women contributes largely to the rise of feminism. Women are asserting…

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