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PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY July 16 - 31, 2016
FAITH AND RELIGION
Wisdom from
the Word
Ben Berto
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 The earth was without form,
and void; and darkness was[a]
on the face of the deep. And the
Spirit of God was hovering over
the face of the waters. Then God
said, “Let there be light”; and
there was light.
Genesis 1: 1-3, NKJV
22 Then the LORD God
said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know
good and evil. And now, lest he
put out his hand and take also of
the tree of life, and eat, and live
forever”—
Genesis 3: 22 NKJV
Some non – Christian
religions cannot understand the
Christian concept of the Triune
God. When we say, God the
Father, God the Son and God
the Holy Spirit –one God, they
say that can’t be because we
are counting three and you are
counting one. Yes, because the
Holy Trinity concept is taken
and accepted by us by faith. It is
a mystery that God only knows
and can explain. So now let us
continue with the church’s statement of belief.
“Luke 1: 35 includes the
Three Persons of the Godhead
in the angel’s announcement
to Mary that she was to be the
mother of the Messiah. The angel
THIS WE BELIEVE ABSOLUTELY—THE TRINITY 2
said that the Holy Spirit
would come upon her,
the power of the Most
High would overshadow her, and
Jesus would be born of her. Jesus recognized the difference between the Members of the Godhead when He said, “When the
Counselor comes, whom I will
send to you from the Father, the
Spirit of truth who goes out from
the Father , He will testify about
Me.”(John 15: 26) Paul’s apostolic benediction also supports
this teaching. He said, “May the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with
you all.” (2 Corinthians 13:14}”
TRADITIONAL ARGUMENTS FOR THE EXISTENCE
OF GOD
“We can accept the existence of the Trinity only by
faith. Nevertheless, reason does
provide evidence that confirms
our belief in God. Throughout
the centuries, theologians have
suggested various arguments
for the existence of God. Theses are: !. The moral argument:
The search of every human being for “the best good” implies
the existence of a moral Being.
Our conscience and our moral
understanding distinguish us
humans from the animals. There
must be a source for the moral
insight that is independent of humans, and that Source is God.
The story is told about a
teacher who asked her students:
“Class, where does sugar come
from?” One student answered:
“From sugar cane, ma’am!” Another said: “From the bees, with
their honey, ma’am!” Finally, a
little boy said: “Sugar comes
from the fast-food restaurants
because every time my father
comes home, he brings us sugar,
ma’am!”
***
In today’s Gospel (Lk. 11,
1-13), Jesus teaches us to call
His Father our Father! Yes, we
have a loving Father who knows
everything and who will take care
of everything and everyone in our
lives. Habemus Patrem!
***
We have a Father. We are
not orp hans. We are not alone or
abandoned. Let us live with this
blessed assurance. God is in perfect control. Let us pray for the
grace to worry less and trust Him
more.
***
If God is our Father, then
we are brothers and sisters. Let
ontological argument: Anselm,
the eleventh century archbishop
of Canterbury, defined God as
“than which nothing greater can
be conceived “ He reasoned that
life must be a necessary part of
such a perfect Being, and therefore, He must exist. To put it in
another way, if it’s possible to
conceive that such a Being exists, the He must in fact exist. 6:
The argument from experience:
Human religious experiences,
which are such a common part
of our human existence, indicate
that there must be something or
someone behind them. The fact
that so many people everywhere
have an actual experience of God
makes very likely the existence of
such a Being, who created the
world and sustains it.
“From the moment
they were first advanced, these
We have a Father!
Moments
Fr, Jerry M. Orbos, SVD
2. The mental argument: Our
mental faculties, our imagination, and intelligence, can be explained only by presupposing the
existence of a super-intelligent
Source. 3. The cosmological argument: In view of the fact that
every effect must have a cause,
a never-ending chain of cause
and effect must go back to the
great “First Cause”. Nothing can
proceed from nothing. 4. The
teleological argument: The intricate structure and design seen in
nature, from the butterfly to the
human brain requires the existence of an intelligent Designer.
Anyone eho has put together
a computer should find it easy
enough to understand that the
incredibly complex “computer”
that we know as the human
brain could not develop purely
through natural causes. 5. The
“evidences of God” have had
both their defenders and their
detractors. Several of the last
of these evidences have been
argued more in the past 100
years than the first ones. More
recently, many philosophers and
theologians who devote themselves to these issues have given
greater attention to the ancient
evidences for God’s existence,
adapting themselves to our current thought patterns.
“However, beyond these
rational evidences, God invites
us to know Him in our own experience. The Triune God promises, “You will seek Me and find
Me, when you seek for Me with
all your heart.” Jeremiah 29: 13
NKJV.
For prayer, questions and
Bible study, call Ben at 604-5811278, Junjun at 778-927-8040,
and Stanley at 604-700-3053.
You are invited to worship with
us every Sabbath (Saturday) at
the Abundant Life Community
Seventh-day Adventist Church at
13062-104 Avenue, Surrey. Welcome.
We will be welcoming our
new Filipino Pastor in October
this year. He is Pastor Leomar
Macaraig. He will also shepherd
the Vancouver Filipino and Burnaby FilCan SDA churches. Pastor
Levi Estores will be the district
Pastor for the Filipino districts
comprising six churches.
us care for, and not kill,
one another. Short of
that, let us respect, listen
to, and reach out to one another.
Why? Because God is our Father,
and He wants us all to love one
another.
***
Is our Father pleased
with us, and with the lives we are
living? Is the Father smiling at us
when He looks at us, at our families, at our country, and at the
world in which we are living? Is
He happy with His creatures and
with creation? Please don’t forget
the “uplook”—the big picture!
***
We are all answerable
to our Father. We will come face
to face with Him someday, and
what a meeting it will be! Will it
be a meeting filled with joy, or
with shame and regrets? The
choice is ours to make.
***
Fr. Vic Cisneros, SVD,
met an accident last July 19 at
about 6.30 p.m. This humble,
self-effacing and hardworking priest was on his way to the
Batangas City Cathedral to hear
confessions when his motorbike
was hit by a car. His left leg was
fractured. He is all right now, and
recovering. Thank You, God, our
most loving Father!
***
Life is short. Death is
certain. Our exit from this life
can happen anytime. Let us live
in such a way that when we leave
this world, we will have little or no
regrets that we loved too little, or
too late. Again, let us remember
that we carry nothing when we
leave this world except the faith
and the love we have practiced
and shared.
***
Let us not forget that
simple prayer to our guardian
angels to protect us from accidents, illnesses, violence, and
bad people who have bad intentions upon us. Let us also ask
our guardian angels to protect
us from pride and selfishness,
from depression and hopelessness. “Angel of God, my guardian dear…”
***
I made a sick call yesterday. I visited a friend who,
years ago, always said to me,
“Saka na, Father,” whenever I
mentioned confession to
him. Next time, Father, he
always said, adding that he
was not yet ready. Finally,
cancer caught up with him.
And he called for me, saying
that now, he is ready. Let us
not postpone or belittle our
journey to God’s heart. It is
dangerous to manipulate
God and His mercy.
***
As we journey on, there
will always be reminders of the
Father’s love for us. After so
many years, I again met Dr. Willie
de la Cruz and Dr. Rodel Valera,
who performed surgery on my
throat last April 1999. That was
a long time ago, but the message of God’s love and provision
remains. Yes, there will always be
something to remind us of the
Father’s love.
***
I wrote last week that a
“Martha” can become “martaray” (arrogant). But a so-called
“Mary” can also become “maryabang” (boastful and proud).
Whether you are a Martha or a
Mary, don’t let pride set in your
heart. True humility begins when
WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM
we are humble before the Father.
***
Think about this: “I am
not sinless, but now, I am sinning
less.”
***
Bantay Matanda invites
you to a lay forum on “Fall Prevention in the Elderly” at Tuklong
ni San Jose in Christ the King
Seminary, E. Rodriguez Sr. Avenue, Quezon City, on July 30
from 9 a.m to 12 noon. For inquiries, please call 373-2262 or
09174167849.
***
A moment with the Lord:
Lord, thank You! We have
You as ou r Father, now, always,
and forever. Amen!(Inq.net)