Alfred's Site

We had recently been with a brother in the victorious christian living seminar. it was attended by different church pastors and workers. it was indeed very "eye opening" because bro Caysing Tan shared about the reality of our being in Christ, as a new creation. (2 Cor 5:17). however, we are still functioning, acting, living our lives and are being directed, influenced by our old self. but the word of God says, we are NEW... therefore, we should be be influenced, directed, guided, led by God Himself, through His Holy Spirit. unfortunately we are so influenced, and still are being influenced, by our old nature, our fleshly carnal desires... anyway, we may say that we are in this world and still have to live in our flesh... what flesh are we talking about? is it our physical flesh? or our spiritual flesh? (what a contradiction! we may say...), but the reality of things is that we should understand and KNOW that God loves us so (John 3:16) that He does not want us to live our old sinful rotten lives! that is why we are to be transformed... by the renewing of our minds (Rom. 12: 1-2). "let us ...be like-minded. having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose... your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus..." (Phil 2: 1-11). some may say that this is extreme... is God extreme? well there is only one standard for the Lord and that is His will, His word, His desire... let us then live the life He has intended for us to have. Read Jer. 29:11! God bless

About the pictures: Bro Casing Tan  sharing to the pastors (above)

Bro Casing praying for the governor of Sorsogon - Gov. Sally A. Lee (below)

Please check out my wife jean's blog regarding our trip to Taiwan in January 30-to February 10 2008.

http://alanjean.multiply.com/journal/item/43/Taiwan_Trip_January_30_-_February_10_2008

As I was devotionally reading the scriptures (TEV -Good News), I read from Col. 2:6-10 as:"Since you have accepted Christ Jesus as Lord, live in union with Him. Keep your roots deep in Him, build your lives on Him, and become stronger in your faith, as you were thought. And be filled with thanksgiving. See to it then, that no one enslaves you by means of the worthless deceit of human wisdom, which comes from the teachings handed down by human beings and from the ruling spirits of the universe, and not from Christ. For the full content of divine nature lives in Christ, in His humanity, and you have been given full life in union with Him. He is supreme over every spiritual ruler and authority."

 

Thinking of it, this is the last day of 2007, and looking back, (1) are my roots kept deep in Him? (2) Have I built my life in Him, or at least portions of it? (3) Have I become stronger in the faith? (4) Am I filled with thanksgiving? I hope that our answers are all yes, truly yes, in these questions. If "no", why not? The second part of this is: have we been ENSLAVED by worthless human wisdom? Relied on our own rationalization, our own concepts, doing things our own way as we think it to be right, etc.? I hope our answers to these are not affirmative. But even though we may have been deceived by the craftiness of this world's system, let us not bring it along the next year, but have the divine nature of Christ live in us, and make it manifested in our selves and our lives as to be seen by the people around us especially our loved ones, because we are in union with Him..."you have been given full life in union with Him". (v.9); well, how can this be? It is very hard! You can do these things? "What is humanly impossible is possible with God" (Luke 18:27)

 

What have we done or accomplished in 2007? Are those things for the glory of God? Have we proclaimed He is Lord of our all? Well don't worry but allow God's grace to forgive us and mold us... to be more like Him.

 

May we consider these words and be guided by it by the New Year 2008! A blessed and bountiful new year to all! God bless us!

if you have food, clothes, and a home, you are richer than 75% of the world; if you have some money in the bank, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy people; if u woke up healthy this morning, you are more blessed than the 1 million who will not survive this week; if you have experienced peace and freedom, u are ahead of 500 million people in the world; if u can read this message, you are more blessed than over 2 billion people who can not read at all! you're blessed! much to thank God about as the year nears the end of 2007... "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever." Psalm 136 remember He is God, worthy of our praise and thanksgiving. A blessed Christmas to all!

The recent scare of the super typhoon "mina" (nov. 07), indeed placed all bicolanos (those from the bicol region) especially from Albay province, into a "panic mode" flocking the groceries and department stores, buying whatever could be bought. even to us Christians, some form of apprehension was noted. But this somehow, reinforces, reiterates, confirms the word of God as we read it in several passages of scripture. "Ask, and it shall be given to; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you." Matt 7:7;  "He will be very gracious to you at the voice of your cry; when He hear it, He will answer you." Isaiah 30:19; it is unfortunate though, when we do not remember God during our times of plenty, of seeming stable condition, and only call unto Him when we are beset with difficulties and problems. the psalmist says,"Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear my voice." Psalm 55:17. anytime, is God's time! so it is indeed for us to cry out to God, not just in desperation but also in praise and worship unto Him. for God desires to hear our voices crying out to Him, with our plea, with the cry of our spirits, as the Holy Spirit helps us in our infirmities, whereby we cry, Abba, Father... (Rom 8:15). "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it will be done unto you. "John 15:7.so you see, it is in our abiding in Him that we can cry out both in need or time of help, or overflow, in praise and worship, in lack, or in abundance, in sickness or in health, whatever situation we may be in... and we can be assured that He hears and answers us in everything. it is like the electrical extension wire; plug it into the main outlet and walla! you have an instant electrical current wherever the wire ends! wow! the same 220 volts from the outlet is the same 220 volts in the extension wire! THAT IS GOD! He is the same yesterday, today and forever. (Heb. 13:8)  to God be the Glory! let us all be plugged into the powerhouse of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! He is God! He is! God be praised!  God bless!

This is the a joint Victory Weekend we had in February 2007 for Legaspi and Sorsogon Brethren.  We pray for more Victory Weekend to come...

i have just arrived from manila last sunday morning after a 10 hour bus ride and i was feeling cold and started to sniff, this time quite heavily, with a bit of dryness on my throat. in other words, starting to "catch the cold"... i went there to attend the ENT Conference at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel. It was indeed something for me, because it has been more than a year now that i have had any travel at all. and mind you, alone - physically, that is, since i have always been with my wife who took care of me when i had stroke and was recovering. this experience made me feel what the psalmist (probably Moses) felt when he said, "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty." Ps. 91:1. in spite of the seeming difficult situation i was in, (it was the first time i was alone - physically - after my recovery!), God indeed manifested Himself, sustained me, gave me the strength to move on and experience great things in life! maybe you won't be able to understand the situation unless you experience it yourself (but don't experience my hardship and difficulties!). yes, i can somehow say, "i feel what the psalmist probably was feeling"... be in the shelter of the Most High God...try it... you'll love it... be in the presence of God! be blessed!

It has been more than a year now that i have not touched the scalpel and even thought that i would never scrub nor wear a surgical gown and do surgery. I tried to apply to another country and it just made me think that "hey c'mon!! I'm Handicapped! I'm disabled! I have a silicone tube in my brain to my abdomen!!!" medically speaking, well i am maybe a liability! But God is trully great! I had an emergency call from the MMG hospital last Oct. 4, were i performed an "E" facial surgery due to vehicular accident. and I did it!!! 1am - 4 am ! this was followed by the PCS-Medical Mission last Oct. 6 where i assisted in 3 ENT cases!!! Dr. Espileta even said, " You still know your knot tying !  You can do it!" Yes, i trully can... by the grace of God! so to all of you who feels that you've lost it... think again. God can MAKE YOU DO IT AGAIN !!! Just allow Him to make your hands His hands, your feet His feet, your voice His voice, your heart His heart. Follow Him and walk with Him everyday! God bless, enjoy His presence...