The Sting Of Death

“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” 1 Corinthians 15:55 NIV.

“For the wages of sin is death...” Romans 6:23 NIV.

“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned - ” Romans 5:12 NIV.

Death is an irreversible cessation of biological life that people generally are afraid to face though everyone is destined to finally leave this world with it. For believers in Christ, death is the separation of the soul from the physical body. Everyone knows for a fact that someday our mortal bodies will soon return to the ground but when that time comes though, we do all the best to defy it.

Last February 14th this year, everyone in my workplace was shocked to hear a news that one of the employees (who was actually my former supervisor when I went on study leave) met a car accident and was critically injured. I witnessed how he fought for life. He tried to be strong. He was so aware of what was going around him and of what was being done with his body especially the medical drugs that were injected into his system. He tried to speak in answer to my greeting when we visited him in the hospital. His spirit to live was so strong. Nine days after the accident though, everyone got even more shocked when news spread that he died. He was quoted to have said a day or two before his death that he was so afraid and was so nervous. Death of a loved one is always difficult so that I felt the gruesome struggle of his family in the hospital, during the wake and until the burial.

On the 7th day of the wake, another fellow employee also died of complications leaving our whole Institute mourning for them.

When death strikes in the family, it becomes the worst stage each one has to face. For a believer in Christ though or the saved, death ushers him in the presence of God. Jesus also died. Adam, the first man, also died. Only the difference is Adam died because he was a sinner, and Jesus, who had never sinned, chose to suffer death as a substitute for sinners (Hebrews 2:9, 14-16). In Matthew 28, Jesus triumphed over death and sin and showed His power by rising from the dead on the third day. Because of Christ, death is a defeated foe.

For the non-believer in Christ or the unsaved, death is an end for the chance to accept God’s gracious offer of salvation. “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment...” Hebrews 9:27 NIV.

"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain..." Revelation 21:4 NIV. How sweet would it be when that time comes for all believers in Christ to enjoy. We shall look forward onto it.

Michael Bronson in BibleHelp.org estimates that there are 153, 000 people who die every day in the whole world or 56.0 million every year. Of this number, how many souls are sure to go home to God and how many would end up the opposite?

I suggest you all to visit the website: http://www.gotquestions.org

Biofuel Euphoria

I was in static smiles one trip home to the province from Manila upon seeing several plant shops along the stretch of Bulacan to La Union of Jatropha seedlings on sale! Will this Jatropha case ever bring the Philippines to wonderland if ever her dream comes true?

It's so obvious that Filipinos are now very desperate to escape from the pit of poverty in the country with either thousands regardless of status in life on exodus to many parts of the world in quest for more glitters to fill the pocket while others grip to sorts of money-making including this Jatropha biodiesel craze in the offing (albeit not only poverty that moves other Filipinos abroad but mere greed).

While researchers and scientists all over the globe are in the zenith of commercializing GMO's and biodiesel crops, Filipinos from all walks of life now talk about the Jatropha curcas L. or commonly known as "tuba-tuba" in Tagalog (Ilocanos call it "tagumbao" or "tag-tagumbao") as another big time source of money. Jatropha is from the family Euphorbiaceae and has a genus of approximately 175 succulents, shrubs and trees. It originates from the Carribean and was spread as a valuable hedge and medicinal plant to Africa, Asia and India by Portuguese traders. It is a weed in Brazil, Fiji, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Panama, Puerto Rico and El Salvador (Holm, et. al. 1979).

Jatropha is an introduced plant species into the Philippines and it hardly grows just anywhere in the country. The seeds is known to be a source of biofuel which according to studies if used will not be as hazardous to the environment as compared to the effects of ground fuel that we import.

For a long time, sewage, biodegradable wastes (i.e. kitchen left-overs, garden wastes, etc.) and swine wastes had been used as source of methane as bioenergy for cooking.

Now, aside from this Jatropha, research studies have also proved other agricultural crops that can be extracted for biodiesel oil. The U.S. has its corn while Europe has its flaxseed and rapeseed and Brazil has its sugarcane.

The Philippine government has alloted a P1B investment in biodiesel production primarily for Jatropha and half of the funds came from the Philippine National Oil Co., an alternative development corporation (PNOC-NDC). Half also came from the National Dev't. Co. This fund is mainly for developing marginally landless farmers who are supposed to benefit from the opportunity to grow biodiesel feedstocks including sugarcane, cassava, maize, soybeans and Jatropha.

According to Bioimpact and PNOC and to quote, "Most of the planned biofuel plantation are located in Mindanao where the country's poorest provinces are, where refineries with a capacity of 60, 000 to 240, 000 tonnes will be built at the center of growing areas with a 30, 000 to 120, 000 has. respectively."

While talking some time ago with some graduate students in the Chemical Engineering and other BioSciences field at the University of the Philippines Los Baños, we haven't escaped issues re: crazes that suddenly brought biofuels to the limelight driving politicians even to lick on the bowl of this euphoria. Some foregin students in the university have tried to study biofuel from our coconuts and came out with very attractive results. But the question is, should we allow our coconuts to be exploited more for biofuel when on the other end we direly need it in the food industry? The ratio of the Philippine population to its viable landmass is far not enough for support! Which is more on the priority list? This issue brought concern to some research organizations so that further campaign on this knowledge is restricted albeit investigations on coconuts as source of biofuel per se are still on the top list. At this time, jittery researchers continuously hover upon the chase like vultures to find an alternative commodity that which brought Jatropha curcas to the cinema of Philippine bioresearch.

In January 2006, Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed into law R. A. 9367 or otherwise known as Biofuels Act of 2006 with the following mandates: a) A minimum 1% biodiesel blend into all diesel engine fuels, which increases to 2% after two years; b) a minimum 5% bioethanol blend into all gasoline fuel distributed and sold in the country within two years going up to 10% after 4 years. This law promotes the use of alternative transport fuels consistent with the Declaration on East Asian Energy Security ratified by the 16 heads of state of the Association of SEAN and its dialogue partners during the 12th ASEAN summit held on January 10-15, 2006 in Cebu City. In addition to the mandate, this Act aims to develop and utilize indigenous renewable and sustainably-sourced clean energy sources to reduce the country's dependence on imported oil and lower the amounts of toxins and pollutants in the atmosphere.

All this scenario then bred opportunists to sell Jatropha seedlings although they don't know exactly what is the plant and how it can produce fuel energy to run engines.

I thought all the while though that there's no need anymore for these seedlings to be produced and sold by private growers either in big or small-scale because a big chunk of the pie was alloted purposely for the production of such species!

Are all these discoveries that we so go euphoric about would uplift our economy or would it just spin the country the other way around? Is the Philippines a viable place for Jatropha biodiesel production? How much funds and non-bio energy do we have to spend before a liter of ready to use Jatropha biodiesel oil will be produced? Is it not better to use the alloted funds to rehabilitate the dwindling coconut industry or improve the copra production rather than starting a Jatropha industry from zero? The group tasked to steer this new venture has to hire foreign experts/consultants and which requires an amount of fees. Besides, they themselves travel to Jatropha growing countries like India and the South Americas for seminars and other related concerns. Their expenses is not a joke on the budget! There are so many questions that until now have unclear answers. And I'm not the only one who is cynical about this issue.

Recently, I even chanced upon a headline aired on TV that the Philippine malunggay or commonly called horseradish tree and scientifically known as Moringa oleifera Lamk. is also a plant that can be extracted for biofuel albeit plants generally, if not all, produce oils in different amounts and for different purpose.

The Philippines is just again hitting through this biofuel craze and is making the word/s "biodiesel" and "biofuel" a hot lingo even to the commonest citizen who have vague understanding of this topic while opportunists in the uppermost echelon of the government have already gulped and are enjoying their chunks of share in the supposed wholesome budget particularly for the said research.

The Powerful Tongue

"The tongue is but three inches long, yet it can kill a man six feet high." - Japanese Proverb

"One thing man hasn't been able to tame is his own tongue. It can cause the most uncontrollable evil in all creation and can spread the deadliest poison. If not disciplined and controlled, one minute it can praise and bless God and the next minute it can curse those created in God's image.'' - Inspired by James 3:8,9.

True, the tongue is just a small piece of flesh in the human anatomy, yet how many morals have it destroyed? It is a muscle part of the digestive system yet many times it becomes a double-edged sword that violently quells the values of an individual. How many dreams, decisions, reputations and even families have it slayed and hurled into the fiery furnace of doom?

From elite brains to morons, this piece of flesh doesn't choose whom to wreck or regard. It is not even learned nor educated. It just flaggelates anytime when jerked.

And have you ever wondered yourself of the time when you became either the hero or the villain in the battlefield of the tongue? How many times did you become the villain or the hero? Did you feast upon your triumph?

It is such a tragedy that man easily embraces the deceptions carefully woven by the tongue into the norms of society today that psychologists would even justify as a favorable response. This sets me then to wonder that if as long as a man lives (that includes me of course), how much is the ratio between the correct usage of his tongue to its grave misuse.

It's not surprising though that the first misuse of the tongue happened at the Garden of Eden by the earliest couple of human beings which had since then been passed from generations to generations. Unfortunately, the misuse was thoroughly bred through the years giving birth to multiple deceits, debaucheries, treacheries to name a few.

If we want however real change and live in a world of honesty and Godly ways, where then do we divide the line and promise to use it in pious ways. How do we guard it from the imps around and cease from hissing?

Taming the tongue is a task so huge to undertake and one way to conquer its deceptive powers is to acknowledge that we are sinful and need to sincerely repent and totally turn around for change. The evil powers of the tongue must not be allowed to prevail.

"Such a tiny flicker it begins, sets many mountains into flames. Friend or foe this li'l creature power it so keeps." - Yolanda B. Botigan

Luck Vs. Blessing

"Oh, you're lucky!"

Whenever something gets rewarding is usually owed to luck.

I am an individual who believed in luck during my earlier years so that I, too, always had the "good luck" words dangling in my vocabulary.

Luck in the common lingo is basically defined as, "the accidental occurrence of events affecting an individual, fortune and fate." Concluding thereby that luck is not something to be achieved.

A blessing on the other hand is defined as a "divine benefit or gift, that which promotes happiness or prosperity." It is a "consecration" and further means that it is a "special favor or approval."

Luck plays a lot in the lives of many whatever race and culture one belongs. It even goes to the extent of keeping charms and gems just to attract it to the bearer. We bid friends good luck if they are to undergo something challenging, i.e. exams, sport competitions, etc.

Unawarely though, too much dependency in luck leads a person to cast wholely his/her faith to it tending him to become either an agnostic and/or forgetting God the sole provider.

Here are some reasons why we put our faiths in the name of luck:

a. We are afraid of failures and other shortcomings the reason we even gamble the rest of what lies ahead aiming to double or triple that fortune. At the end though, imps will be laughing at our loss.

b. Plain laziness.

c. Offering life and fate in the name of luck is a form of greed because of discontentment.

d. Unbelief in one's capacity to face life's challenges and then immediately surrendering to weakness/es.

e. Unbelief in Jesus Christ our Saviour and God who provides everything.

In any achievement where efforts were invested, a blessing of course will surely follow. Blessings are in uncountable ways and these have not just existed or accidentally given. It is/was with a purpose that blessings are/were infront of the blessed.

We live daily with all the undue blessings that the Almighty God gave and is giving us. Only we just ignore or lack to acknowledge their presence in us, i. e. our very own lives, the whole creation where we stay and enjoy, the smile of a child, the encouraging words of friends, the smell and site of blooming flowers, the foods on our table, etc...

Just as there are reasons why we put faith in luck, so are there reasons also that hinder blessings to flow:

a. Unbelief in God who provides all blessings.

b. Greediness. One can own acres of land and fine houses here and there through greedy motives. But one may ask, are these still blessings because they were of course acquired through efforts? Material things are of course blessings provided, they are/were acquired through the most legal and Godly way sacrificing no one.

c. Unconfessed sins. We hide sins that hinder the normal flow of events in our lives.

d. Pride. This is also an unconfessed sin that we always blanket with all sorts of lies, artificial smiles, etc...

e. Plain laziness.

In my own tribal dialect, luck is termed, "gasat." If one wins in any game show or lottery draw, or is given a house and lot from any sponsoring agent, he is usually said to be "nagasat."

Winning in game shows and lotteries which involves betting are best examples of luck, an accident or probability that befalls upon one's name. This is in no way a blessing but is a form of gambling!

Remember that there is no such thing as luck or "gasat" to the one who has faith in God Our Saviour and Provider.

Learn to identify what is a blessing and what is luck.

The Year of Our Lord Jesus Christ

"2008 is the year of the rat." "I was born in the year of the boar." "Last year was the year of the horse." etc...

Most Filipinos believe on these named years dictating them even on what to and not what to do, what to wear, where to go, what's good for business and many more.

Where did these, "in the year of the animals," originate though?

The Chinese people believe so much on lucks and omens so that they have all sorts of charms and calendar guides for direction on what to either keep or let go of. Their calendars are full of symbols to follow everyday. Each new year is welcomed with extravagant celebration owing to tradition with all eye-catching decor of antique and period pieces to all sorts of delicacies with tikoy never to be forgotten. The captivating lion and dragon dance symbolizing a prosperous future and long life respectively are parts that complete each celebration. And each year is named accordingly with an animal. Whenever unfavorable situations cross paths is usually blamed to the animal symbolizing the year.

As Bible believing Christian, each day, week and year is the day or year of the Lord Jesus Christ! He made each day of the year and blessed it for every human being to enjoy. Animals have nothing to do with each turn of the year. Any event, therefore pleasing or not is generally the consequence of man's own doing.

2008 is the year of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!

The Paradox of Our Age

(I found truth in this poem so I posted it here to share it to you. I don't know who the author is.)....

We have taller buildings, but shorter tempers;
Wider freeways, but narrow viewpoints;
We spend more, but have less;
We buy more, but enjoy it less.

We have bigger houses and smaller families,
More conveniences, but less time;
We have more degrees, but less sense;
More knowledge but less judgment;
More experts but more problems;
More medicines, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke to much,
Spend too recklessly, laugh too little
Drive too fast, get angry too quickly,
Stay up too late, get up too tired,
Read too seldom, watch TV to much,
And pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions but reduced our values,
We talk too much, love too seldom and lie too often.
We've learned how to make a living, but not a life;
We've added years to life, not life to years.

We've been all the way to the moon and back,
But have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor.

We've conquered outer space, but not inner space;
We've done larger things, but not better things;
We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul;
We've split the atom, but not our prejudice;
We write more, but learn less;
Plan more, but accomplish less.

We've learned to rush, but not to wait;
We have higher incomes, but lower morals;
More food but less appeasement;
More acquaintances, but fewer friends;
More effort but less success.

We build more computers to hold more information
To produce more copies than ever
But have less communication;
We've become too long on quantity, but short of quality.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion;
Tall men, and short character;
Steep profits, and shallow relationships.

These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare,
More leisure and less fun;
More kinds of food, but less nutrition.

These are the days of two incomes, but more divorce;
Of fancier houses, but broken homes.
These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throw away mentality,
One-night stands, overweight bodies,
And pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.

It is a time when there is much in the show window
And nothing in the stockroom.
INDEED IT'S ALL TRUE!

- Anon-

The Story of the Three Trees

As many as there are Christmas stories told year in and out so as the story of the three trees fits itself along. I heard this story from a church pastor during a children's Christmas program and I want it to share to you, my readers.

One fine day, there were three growing trees bragging to each one of what they would want to become when the time comes they would be harvested and carved into something of their dreams.

The first tree boasted that it wanted to be built as the finest mansion so it can house rich and respected people from anywhere around the world. It would serve guests cozy rooms and attractive surroundings.

The second tree said, it wanted to be built as a very big and elegant ship so it can travel to any place around the world. It would be a great ship because it would carry great passengers, kings and queens and other very important personalities around the world.

The third tree also said, it wanted to become a strong bridge so that anyone who passes through it will never get afraid. Anyone would just cross to the other end with confidence.

The time came when the lumberjacks came, fell the three trees and brought them to a sawmill where they would be built into their dreams. The three were of course very excited.

The first tree who wanted to be built as the finest mansion was instead made into a manger and was placed in a barn. The tree became so disappointed because its dream to house respected and great people from anywhere around the world would never come true. Unknowingly though, upon this manger, was to be born the child who was to become the Saviour of the world and who was to be named Immanuel, which means God with us.

The second tree on the other hand, who dreamt to be the most elegant ship was built instead of a small boat. It got disappointed also just like the first tree because its dream to carry great people would also never come true. But on this boat, the Lord Jesus Christ was to ride with His disciples into the sea to catch fish. It was on this boat that Jesus' disciples would wake Him up when strong winds and huge waves were rocking them onto the roaring sea. Jesus would then wake up and command the winds and waves to calm down and stop. His disciples would get so amazed and asked if who Jesus was. This boat was to be used during God's ministry here on earth.

Just like the first and second trees, the third tree was never built as a strong bridge the way it wanted to be. It got so frustrated also because never to its plan that it would just become a two-pieced post where a man is to be hanged.

The third tree though, never also realized that the man to be hanged and nailed onto it would be Jesus Christ, the King of all kings, God of all gods and the man who would once and for all, save humanity from sin. It was to become the bridge to fill the gap between God and man. Truth is, the third tree became the bridge, mightier than the strength it dreamt to be.

Physically, each of these three trees dreamt to become great and mighty throughout their lives as fine mansion, elegant ship and strong bridge, respectively. Never on their thoughts did they ever plan to be built in very humble ways opposite their dreams and be used as mightily as ever, mightier than how they wished to be used.

Jesus Christ is God, the Saviour of the world, born onto a manger, calmed the sea while on a boat and died on a cross.

Because of the third tree who at the end became the cross, many were able to reach God. It became the strongest bridge, the world has ever had.

These three trees were built in different and unique ways, but there is just one common thing among them --- the presence of God in each.

In our own lives, there are things that we ourselves direly want to happen that we tend to get so depressed once none of it will materialize. We only don't realize that what we wanted are not important at all in God's eyes. Why? He has greater things He wants us to become and greater things that we can be used of. Besides materials things are not at all enough!