Family Feud

The war that looms against our families is not against flesh and blood.

The principalities and powers that mock our homes are unseen yet potent.

There is no psychology nor ballistics to match this insidious firepower.

Except for one: the incredible weight of pneumatology.

As the Holy Spirit leads the man of each house, this present darkness loses its hold.

Super Ego

Sigmund Freud dissected the human persona with an incisive definition: we indulge in doing to please other people.

Jesus Christ forsook all others to honor none other but His Father.

Super Ego vs. Supra Ergo.

photography: Yen Baet / Venice: Carnevale di Venezia

Theology of Fashion

We indulge in clothing based on the subscription of watchful eyes.

Do we ever ponder why we even bother to cover our nakedness?

My daughter Nika heeds a simple call to share her heart to the beautiful women of Manila. Her brief chat will deal with the question of dress.

Why do we clad ourselves with variations of fig leaves? Which spectacle do we truly seek to please?

If you are in the area, please come and join her at the Ortigas Centre, Pasig City at the Greenhills Christian Fellowship. On July 26 at 10:00 AM, a little gathering clamors to honor the Lord of True Fashion.

She travels all the way from NYC to uncloak the fraud and reveal the blessing.

Artist: Lisa Grosfeld NYC

Early Morning Catch

Rousing early to catch the pristine sunrise, an early-rising couple greeted me with some fresh haul from China Sea.

Quite a delight to experience diligence first thing in the morning.

An hour later, I was granted joy to fish for a longing soul: Fernando, a stroke-victim was on rehab routine at the beach.

The net of Christ's gospel was on point in leading him safe to shore.

Amaryllis Bloom

When opportunity beckons persons to a good conversation ... eternity stands still.

I am huddled away in the mountains of Negros Occidental. It is ironic but after about 4 hours of ascent, I find myself nestled in a quiet and sacred vista fronting the spectacle of a beach-themed sunset.

It is in this backdrop that I met a celebrated florist of Asia. In more than an hour of fascinating anecdotes shared through the ambiance of rustling breeze and enchanting waves, I was granted the privilege to pray for a man who was called to beautify heaven with floral wonder.

I will never forget Antonio. He promised to cross-stitch paradise at Nabulao Resort whenever my youngest daughter ties the knot.

Not in the near future, perhaps ... but soon enough for a bloom.

Interruption

Today I fly to Manila with my bride of 28 years.

We enter into the intertwined gift of vocation and vacation.

As I anticipate unpredictable web connections in the next couple of weeks, I am ushered to hit the pause button to go further in.

I pray to reconnect as I am able to from Asia.

But through the interruption, the musings and thoughts will flow like rain.

Hitting the Pause Button

Nomenclature

God handed man the prerogative to name all things. It is the imprint of vice-regency.

Adam was meant to be His faithful associate.

It is in man's psyche to practice dominion.

When such designation finds alignment with God's purposes, the intent to subdue takes on a holy form.

It becomes management according to the Creator's wise and infinite largesse.

photography: Yen Baet / Bohol: Philippine Tarsier

Suitable Relationship

God declared the ineptness of isolation.

From the vantage point of Triune existence, God creates a helper suitable for man.

Although man was created first, this does not imply an ontological issue of superiority or inferiority. 

The word (עֵ֫זֶר) "helper" appears in the Old Testament sixteen of the nineteen times it is used and it poignantly refers to essential contribution and not to a diminished capacity.

Men and Women are equal co-bearers of the Imago Dei.

Emeka & Nika Ihedigbo at the Garden of Poetry Springs

Certain Death

The gift of free will enables man to choose God.

God is God and as such possesses purview over all things. He has full rights to determine what is ultimately good and evil.

The first command at the Garden of Eden provided a graphic potential for sin. If the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was violated, it meant man's free exercise of autonomous declaration of self-authored morality. It takes away the irrevocable truth of God's sole prerogative.

The certainty of death flows from the audacity of such human arrogance.

Priestly Work

The untiring tricycle driver has equal dignity with any hard-working Chief Executive Officer.

Both have been granted an opportunity to recognize divine rest in the context of work.

When the model of pre-Fall labor is properly understood, we are infused with mysterious zest.

We begin looking forward to Mondays and thanking God for Fridays for all the good that is leveraged for His Glory.

photography: Renchi Arce / Streets of Manila

Flow

The imagery of river flowing from Central Eden breaking forth into four headwaters: Pishon, Gihon, Tigris, and Euphrates, ushers the origin of blessing.

True favor comes from God's dwelling.

The spring of life is not fictitious.

Dip into any river and you'll perceive divine gravitas.

photography: Renchi Arce / Pulang Daga Paracale, Camarines Norte

© 2016 Oil and Dew Ltd