HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

This is from "The Valley of Vision," a collection of Puritan prayers -- something to ponder as we approach the end of one year and look forward to a new year here on earth.

O Love beyond Compare, thou art good when thou givest, when thou takest away, when the sun shines upon me, when night gathers over me.

Thou hast loved me before the foundation of the world, and in love didst redeem my soul. Thou dost love me still, in spite of my hard heart, ingratitude, distrust.

Thy goodness has been with me another year, leading me through a twisting wilderness, in retreat helping me to advance, when beaten back making sure headway. Thy goodness will be with me in the year ahead.

I hoist sail and draw up anchor, with thee as the blessed pilot of my future as of my past. I bless thee that thou hast veiled my eyes to the waters ahead.

If thou hast appointed storms of tribulation, thou wilt be with me in them.

If I have to pass through tempests of persecution and temptation, I shall not drown.

If I am to die, I shall see thy face the sooner.

If a painful end is to be my lot, grant me grace that my faith fail not.

If I am to be cast aside from the service I love, I can make no stipulation.

Only glorify thyself in me whether in comfort or trial, as a chosen vessel meet always for thy use.

AMEN!! HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!

auntie maring

yesterday, 12/10, one of my mom's sisters, marina wee, & her husband joe, arrived from baguio. they had heard about my mom's condition from one of my mom's former students @ FEBIAS, eden layda, who had told jacquelyn, my cousin, who then told her mom. my auntie maring told us that she hadn't been able to sleep since hearing about my mom being hospitalized and she felt that she could not rest easy until she sees my mom with her own eyes. so, they took a 6 hour bus ride at midnight wednesday from baguio to manila and then flew on cebu pacific from manila to cebu. mind you, uncle joe is now 80 and auntie maring is at least 77. but, she really needed to see my mom and my mom needed to see her.

auntie maring is a twin and she and auntie flor (who is now with the Lord) were born after my mom who is the eldest of 13. it has been 25 years since i've seen my aunt & uncle and maybe 27 since my parents had seen them. the last time was at my wedding in 1981...!

auntie maring was the one who paid for our wedding reception. she had promised me that, if i were to marry in the philippines, she would butcher 2 pigs for my reception! i took her up on her offer -- we were married in baguio 27 years ago (on friday!) and she gave us a scrumptious reception in her home that was really more like a grand family reunion... it was wonderful!!

there really is NOTHING like family to lift your spirits and make your heart sing!! despite being only 4'9," my auntie is a dynamo!! we were laughing SO much yesterday from all of her stories!! she is one crazy lady...! and i love her!!

she and uncle joe have 4 great-grandkids from 4 children. that really tickled my auntie to know that she had "surpassed" my mom in something...! i hope to be able to reconnect with my cousins. i didn't even know that my eldest cousin, kuya boy, has been living in hawaii for many years now...!! the others are here in the philippines, so i hope i can see them in the next few years. i would also like to visit auntie's home on the island of anda, the largest of pangasinan's thousand islands. maybe when all my kids come to visit, we can travel together and visit clark airbase, subic naval base, on our way to anda... i would love for my kids to meet their relatives on their grandma's side...

so, even though i've had to put my plans for Christmas shopping and buying pasalubong for our trip back to LA next tuesday on the backburner while auntie maring and uncle joe are here, i gladly do so, because it's SO good and SO important to reconnect with family!

Mom update...

after 10 days in Chong Hua Hospital for an asthma attack, followed by a heart attack & the discovery of several other ailments, my mom will be released from the hospital tomorrow (tuesday) afternoon.

i have to say that i'm very glad for this development. i was concerned that she might not be released until later in the week which would mean things would be more hectic around here because of the EL-TS Christmas Party on saturday, 12/13, and the EL Church-Forest Hills Christmas activities on sunday, 12/14. so, i'm thankful that God answered our prayers for an early release for her. not to mention the fact that dan and i leave in a week to return to CA to spend the holidays with the kids. i'm just very thankful that i'll still be here for a few days to make sure everything is working well for my mom here at home.

it has also been quite tiring for us to be going back and forth to the hospital. i'm getting concerned about my dad who is looking more tired with each day that passes. we can't afford to have him get sick also...! with my mom home, he won't have to make those twice daily trips to see her. our trips to the hospital also had to coincide with buying her meds for the next 24 hours. so, that means i usually go in the mornings to make the purchases and my dad comes after lunch to spend a few hours with her.

juliebeth tibon has been a godsend to us. she stays with my mom from late afternoon, through the night and doesn't leave until i arrive @ mid-morning. she will still be helping even when my mom is home, but at least she won't have to travel far to see my mom. (her family lives in the apartment on the lower level of ELIM compound.)

so, God IS good -- all the time! my mom had a mandatory "vacation" that included a full physical check-up. i believe she will be good for another "50,000 miles," now that she has all the meds that she needs to have a better quality of life. it will be more expensive, that's for sure, but at least all her physical problems (diabetes, asthma, heart) will be under control.

what's awesome to me is when she talks about telling God, when she was having such difficulty breathing, that she's ready to go home, she felt such peace come over her. she didn't have an out-of-body experience. nor did she see a white light. she just felt this tremendous peace wash over her...

i do admire her for her strong will and determination. but, i am most grateful to God for allowing us to have her around for a little while longer... i am also thankful that this happened after my dad had recovered from his depression. if this had happened last year, i seriously doubt that my dad would have been able to cope and it could have driven him into a more serious and deeper depression. so, God's timing is impeccable and He really does care about those little details in our lives.

the chorus of that beautiful hymn, "Does Jesus Care?" really holds true...

Oh, YES, He cares. I know He cares. His heart is touched with my grief.
When the days grow weary, the long nights dreary, I know my Saviour cares.

AMEN and AMEN!!

November 29, 2008

This morning, we rushed my mom to emergency. She couldn't breathe and her nebulizer was no longer doing what it needed to do. she was diagnosed with high levels of CO2 in her lungs which caused her to lose consciousness. She really could have died, but God has graciously granted her a reprieve. She has pneumonia in her right lung. her blood sugar level @ 530 this morning was at 370, more than 3x the normal levels of 60-100. @ 5pm, her blood sugar was down to 127 and they're now only giving her 2cc insulin/hour (anyway, i think that's what they said...). her ECG showed some irregular schema, so my dad's cardiologist, lerma noval, was added to the roster of doctors. my mom says her heart is OK but she will have to be on maintenance meds from now on. same with her asthma. she really should have been taking maintenance meds for that long before now. right now, she's on a ventilator to help her breathe.

i'm thankful for my husband who drove us to the hospital this morning and stayed with us most of the morning. i'm thankful for the arcos and garingos who came to visit and pray with my mom this morning. i'm thankful for juliebeth tibon who is willing to stay and watch her this afternoon and part of tonight. i'm SO thankful for maribeth llamera for finding Dr Roger Sy and staying with my mom for several hours today and being the liaison between the hospital staff and the family. we are truly blessed to have such caring people around us!

the saga will continue in the next post...

Philippians 4:19

the familiar King James Version reads: "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus"

last tuesday, 11/18, my dad spoke on this verse during the EL-TS chapel hour. he had been contemplating the current economic crisis in the world and how that would affect EL International Church's ministries and the support that we receive for the work here in Cebu.

here are the notes i took from my dad's meditation:

• God will FILL your every need -- this is a promise to all believers.


• the word "need" in Greek is "kreia," meaning "that which is necessary to live" (to operate/to minister)


• Therefore, God WILL fill ALL that is necessary for each believer


• the source of this filling is GOD Himself


• the Apostle Paul's use of "my God" speaks of his personal experience of God supplying all his needs


• consequently, Paul's God will also supply our needs


• How will God do this? 1) according to the riches of His glory and He has a supply that will never run out!! and, 2) according to His sovereign will


• God will also supply our needs through (by) Christ Jesus. "Christou" is in the dative inflection in Greek and this means certainty!!

CONCLUSION: for any ministry that is involved in proclaiming Christ, in winning souls, this verse definitively states that their needs WILL BE met. so, despite the economic upheaval that the world is experiencing today, we can rest secure in God's promise found in Philippians 4:19. PRAISE GOD!!

these are great reminders...

• Don't date because you are desperate.
• Don't marry because you are miserable.
• Don't have kids because you think your genes are superior.
• Don't philander because you think you are irresistible.
• Don't associate with people you can't trust.
• Don't cheat.
• Don't lie.
• Don't pretend.
• Don't dictate because you are smarter.
• Don't demand because you are stronger.
• Don't sleep around because you think you are old enough & know better.
• Don't hurt your kids because loving them is harder.
• Don't sell yourself, your family, or your ideals.
• Don't stagnate!
• Don't regress.
• Don't live in the past. Time can't bring anything or anyone back.
• Don't put your life on hold for possibly Mr. Right.
• Don't throw your life away on absolutely Mr. Wrong because your biological clock is ticking.
• Learn a new skill.
• Find a new friend.
• Start a new career.
• Sometimes, there is no race to be won, only a price to be paid for some of life's more hasty decisions.
• To terminate your loneliness, reach out to the homeless.
• To feed your nurturing instincts, care for the needy.
• To fulfill your parenting fantasies, get a puppy.
• Don't bring another life into this world for all the wrong reasons.
• To make yourself happy, pursue your passions & be the best of what you can be.
• Simplify your life.
• Take away the clutter.
• Get rid of destructive elements: abusive friends, nasty habits and dangerous liaisons.
• Don't abandon your responsibilities but don't overdose on duty.
• Don't live life recklessly without thought and feeling for your family.
• Be true to yourself.
• Don't commit when you are not ready.
• Don't keep others waiting needlessly.
• Go on that trip. Don't postpone it.
• Say those words. Don't let the moment pass.
• Do what you have to, even at society's scorn.
• Write poetry.
• Love Deeply.
• Walk barefoot.
• Dance with wild abandon.
• Cry at the movies.
• Take care of yourself. Don't wait for someone to take care of you.
• You light up your life.
• You drive yourself to your destination.
• No one completes you -except YOU.
• It isn't true that life does not get easier with age. It only gets more challenging.
• Don't be afraid.
• Don't lose your capacity to love.
• Pursue your passions.
• Live your dreams.
• Don't lose faith in God.
• Don't grow old. Just grow YOU!

ALWAYS REMEMBER: God is good all the time!

[from Rick Warren, author of Purpose Driven Life]

one last posting before voting begins...

whatever happens in a few hours on the 4th in the States (because it is now 11/4 here in the Philippines), i rest in the assurance that God is still on the throne. He will allow what He wills and has ordained since the beginning of time for the US. but, as Christians, we need to be aware of the forces of the enemy that are working against us. we must be vigilant and spiritually alert which is why i appreciate corie for forwarding this message and i hope you will forward this on to others. thanks for letting me share and may God continue to be merciful to the US!!

This was written by a friend which I thought is a worthy read foreverybody in FAD even tho' it was intended to address the electionissue here in the U.S. The issue is universal and subtle beggingus to be wise as serpents. ~ Corie


Dear Friends,
My parents are sharp people, but when they named me Gregory many years ago, it probably didn't occur to them that my name originated in the biblical Greek word, "gregoreo"; meaning, "to watch, to bevigilant, to be spiritually alert." In ancient times, watchmen served as sentries on the city walls to alert the residents of approaching danger so they could rise up and defend themselves.

In the Bible, Ezekiel 33:1-9 describes the responsibility of the watchman:
Son of man, speak to your countrymen and say to them: 'When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not take warning and the sword comes and takes his life, his blood will be on his own head. Since he heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning, his blood will be on his own head. If he had taken warning, he would have saved himself. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them, that man will be taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.'

Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for hissin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself."

My countrymen, today I am blowing the trumpet. The U.S.A. is in grave danger! We are in grave danger because the majority of Americans have rejected God as He is revealed in the Bible. Systematically, truth about the God of the Bible, and the truths about the Christian founding and heritage of this country are being suppressed in schools, government, businesses, courts, media and even in many churches. Since the majority of the population has, in essence, given God the middle finger, God is letting us have it our way. God has given us over to futile thinking and irrational, depraved minds that do not care about what is true, or right or wrong.

Romans 1:18-32 is describes the downhill slide into depravity that our nation is experiencing: Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts tosexual impurity ... They exchanged the truth of God for a lie....Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

As far as the sins mentioned in this passage, one is not worse than another. I'm sure each of us can find one sin in this list that weare guilty of, if not multiple sins. All of us are guilty. All of us, according to God, deserve death. The U.S.A. is deserving of God's judgment. God is calling us to turn from our sins before it is too late.

The suppression of the truth has not happened by accident. It has been carefully orchestrated and has been working out in our society for many years. The ideas sown by 18th and 19th century atheistic philosophers worked their way into 19th century Marxism and Darwinism, then into 20th century communism, socialism, "liberalism" and now, into 21st century "progressive-ism." Ideas haveconsequences! We are now reaping the fruit of what has been sown.

Before you laugh me off as a complete nut-job, consider these excerpts from the Congressional Record of 1963 and see how prophetic it was. The communist agenda for this country is being fulfilled before your very eyes today:
Communist Goals (1963) Congressional Record--Appendix, pp. A34-A35 January 10, 1963 Current Communist Goals EXTENSION OF REMARKS OF HON. A. S. HERLONG, JR. OF FLORIDA IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Thursday, January 10,1963 .
Mr. HERLONG. Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Patricia Nordman of De Land , Fla. , is an ardent and articulate opponent of communism, and until recently published the De Land Courier, which she dedicated to the purpose of alerting the public to the dangers of communism in America . At Mrs. Nordman's request, I include in the RECORD, under unanimous consent, the following "Current Communist Goals," which she identifies as an excerpt from "The Naked Communist," by CleonSkousen:
[From "The Naked Communist," by Cleon Skousen]
3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament [by] the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.
11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government withits own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing [in 1963] in the Congo .)
13. Do away with all loyalty oaths. [author's note: e.g. The Pledgeof Allegiance]
15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the UnitedStates.
16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.
17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.
18. Gain control of all student newspapers.
19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.
20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policy-making positions.
21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.
22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms."
23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is topromote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."
24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.
25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.
26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."
27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity, which does not need a "religious crutch."
28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separationof church and state."
29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.
30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man."
31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history.
32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.
33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.
36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.
37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.
38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand [or treat].
39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communistgoals.
40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.
42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use "united force" to solve economic, political or social problems.
45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction [over domestic problems. Give the World Court jurisdiction] over nations and individuals alike.

Read the entire document at http://www.rense.com/general32/americ.htm----------------------------------------------Microfilm: California State University at San Jose Clark Library,Government Floor Phone (408)924-2770 Microfilm Call Number: J 11.R5Congressional Record, Vol. 109 88th Congress, 1st Session AppendixPages A1-A2842 Jan. 9-May 7, 1963 Reel 12

That was 1963. Now in 45 years later Americans are on the brink of electing a man who is documented to be a Socialist and Marxist, and to give control of our legislative branches of government over elected officials who, by any other name, are communists.
Barak Obama was a member of the Illinois socialist New Party in the mid-1990s (http://www.audacityofhypocrisy.com/obamacrimescom/). TheNew Party was the creation of the quasi-Marxist Democratic Socialistsof America (DSA) and the radical community organization ACORN. The Communist Party splinter group Committees of Correspondence (CoC) was also involved.

For 20 years, Barak Obama was a member of Trinity United Church of Christ led by Jeremiah Wright, a man steeped in Liberation Theology which is an unbiblical, Marxist invention. Obama was mentored by communists (http://www.aim.org/aim-column/obamas-communist-mentor/) and had close links with the unrepentant terrorist William Ayers, leader of the marxist Weather Underground. Accordingto Discoverthenetworks.org:
FBI files from 1976, recently made public under the Freedom ofInformation Act, confirm the connections between Weatherman, Havana, and Moscow. Weatherman leaders like Mark Rudd traveled illegally toHavana in 1968 to engage in terrorist training. There, camps set up by Soviet KGB Colonel Vadim Kotchergine were educating Westerners both in Marxist philosophy and urban warfare.

Obama lays a smoke screen by saying that William Ayers committed his crimes and murders when Obama was only 8 years old. And yet, has William Ayers renounced his activities? Has he reformed his views? No, Ayers still says he wishes he had done more. Now, why would William Ayers now be a professor of education at the University ofIllinois - Chicago ? To continue to spread his Marxism and generalhate for America . See Point 17 in the "Current Communist Goals"listed above.

Why would Obama (now an adult) hold his first campaign meetings in Ayers house? Why would Obama (now an adult) want to serve on educational committee with Ayers? Think! Do not be fooled by Barak Obama and the leftist, Marxist Democratic party. Look at Obama's connections. Look at his voting record. Obama has the most left-wing voting record in the Senate and Joe Biden has the third-most. Their past associations and voting records should, to thinking people, speak louder than his words. Are we really tobelieve that Obama, after adhering to these views for 20 years, suddenly has done a 180 (in the middle of an election year) and no longer holds them?

The Democrats are promising change and I can guarantee you they will keep their promise! Within the first 100 days of an Obama administration backed by a Democrat-controlled House and Senate, you will see a stream of anti-God, Socialist legislation conforming to all the above communist goals, such as was never imagined. The economy may or may not improve, but they will be certain to push their socialist, anti-God, pro-death agenda through.

Lenin and Stalin, if alive today, would be filled with glee. Nearly 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the "defeat" of Communism, America is poised to put the communists in power. You have to appreciate the irony of it! But again, what would one expect when the truth is suppressed by the "progressive" media. Soviet Premier Khrushchev once proclaimed, "We will bury you!" No... we are buryingourselves. Socialism is an abject failure in every country where it has been tried. How can we think it will help us? Like the Bible says, our thinking has become foolish, futile, depraved. Some say, "Who cares if Obama and the Democrats are Marxists? We just want change."

Ideas have their consequences. When the U.S. pulled its troops out of Vietnam in the mid-70's the communist North Vietnamese overran thesouth, put hundreds of thousands in "re-education" camps and murdered tens of thousands from the pro-democratic south. Next came the "boatpeople" who fled the communists in droves as refugees, many dying at sea in their attempt to escape. After the U.S. pullout from South East Asia , the communists murdered more than 2,2 million in the region. Now, Obama and the Democrats want to pull out of Iraq, leaving it to Al-Qaida and the Iranians. Haven't we learned anything from history? The blood of innocent, pro-democracy Iraqis will be on our our hands.

The U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam also led to the rise of the communist dictator Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia and the infamous killing fields and torture houses. Millions were slaughtered. Everyone who opposed the communists, including Christians, were tortured and killed in the most brutal and horrific ways possible. I've personally stood on the killing fields in Cambodia. As I walked, I picked up human teeth out of the soil. I went inside the pagoda where 5,000 skulls were all that remained of those who opposed the communists. I stood next to trees where babies brains were smashed out after they were ripped from their pregnant mother's bellies. Similarly, Barak Obama is an advocate for partial-birth abortion and has voted four times against hospitals providing treatment for abortion victims born alive. This is the fruit of Atheism, Darwinism, Marxism, Communism and "Social Progressive-ism." You think similar atrocities can't happen here? These same types of people were saying that we could never suffer another financial collapse like the Great Depression. Think again!

Wake up, America, before it is too late. You have only a few days left to fight for your freedom before we lose it all. God is calling all of us to turn from our sins and acknowledge Him as the ruler of our lives. I call on all Americans to join me in repentance, fasting and prayer in the remaining days before the election. He may still yet have mercy and restore our sanity.
And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:24-26)

The trumpet has sounded.

Sincerely,Greg
PS For a good illustration of what will happen during an Obama administration backed by a Democratic controlled House and Senate and as documented by Obama's own voting record, please read "A ChillingLook at an Obama Presidency" athttp://focusfamaction.edgeboss.net/download/focusfamaction/pdfs/10-22-08_2012letter.pdf