Monday, November 21, 2011

THE FIESTA MUST GO ON

Some pictures I took during a parade in our place. The city had its Fiesta last November 20 & 21 in honor of their Patron saint.This is a unique Filipino trait, crisis or no, the Fiesta must go on. Since we are government employees, we all must show our faces in the parade in the middle of the noontime heat of the sun where I took the chance to get photos to share to everyone who cares to browse through here.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

EVIL EYE

evil eye Pictures, Images and Photos Matthew 6:23 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! The belief in Ayin Hara is not a superstition but is well founded on references from the earliest Jewish texts. Sarah "gives" Hagar an Ayin Hara, causing her to miscarry her first pregnancy. Yaakov warns his sons not to be seen together so as not to incur Ayin Hara. Another example is King Saul's jealousy of the future King David who is credited with greater military prowess and "gives" him an Ayin Hara. Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler in a letter to his father asked "Where is the justice in a system that causes people to suffer for the jealousies of others?" Rabbi Dessler answered that what happens is the following: One person who has what another person lacks is "careless" and lets the other person see what he has. This causes pain to the other person, and his cry goes up to the Heavenly court. The lesson in all of this is that we must learn to be sensitive to others, and not flaunt what we have. Many people yearn to have what others have, and suffer real pain when they see others casually flaunt those things. True, they shouldn't be jealous, but we cannot expect everyone to be a Tzaddik. Divine justice demands retribution for causing this pain to another person. The best protection is to behave modestly and with a genuine concern for the feelings of others. Source Ohr Somayach Intitutions, Jerusalem, Israel

Monday, November 7, 2011

RABIES

Rabies is a viral disease that affects the nervous system of mammals, including humans. Animals and people can get rabies when they come into contact with the saliva of, or most often through the bite of an infected animal. If a person is bitten by, or exposed to an animal that may have rabies, he or she must receive appropriate medical care immediately in order to prevent rabies disease. Vaccination of household pets, along with immediate medical care for humans who are exposed to rabies, are critical components of rabies prevention and control. My niece was severely bitten by our neighbor's dog, so we had taken her for injection at the hospital. And as for our neighbor they denied that it was their dog who attacked my niece so they never offered to shoulder the expenses for the anti-rabbies and anti-tetanus injections. My niece sustained multiple bites on the hands, legs and even stomach. The nurse at the health center said that the month of November is the usual time of year wherein dogs are most inclined to bite. Maybe they are angrier on this month. Could it be possible that people also are on this month more prone to be more fierce and violent? I think so. News seems to confirm this.

Friday, November 4, 2011

AT THE VORTEX

vortex Pictures, Images and Photos Many years back we had fellowship with the Sabbath keeping group of people. The group's name was Worldwide Church Of God, whose leader was Herbert W. Armstrong. We went with them for a time until such time that the leadership was changed since Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong died of old age. The group WCG under Joseph Tkach shifted to Sunday keeping instead of Saturday. They split into two because of the issue of Sabbath keeping and Sunday keeping thus the Philadelphia Church of God was born that adhered to the teachings of the late leader Herbert W. Armstrong, while the Worldwide Church of God under the new leadership of Joseph Tkach shifted to Sunday keeping. I was of course dismayed of their split so the time came when we stopped our fellowship with them as the Philadelphia group went to another location. So we decided to stay home during Sabbaths. One lady came to us who was my aunt from my father's side, she invited us to fellowship with them. They are the Pentecostal group. I promised to attend with them next Sunday if I have time. I was troubled because I would then be attending Sunday service with them instead of the Sabbath. I said to myself that I could still keep the Sabbath, only that by next day I will be attending Sunday service with them. I wondered if it is acceptable to God. At that time I still called God as God since that was what we commonly called Him even though I know that YHWH is the correct name of God as it is sometimes mentioned in some Bible verses. I decided to pray about it to ask for His permission. I prayed that night that He would show a sign that it's okay to attend the Sunday keeping invitation by making next day a very sunny day and then when it will rain in the middle of it, not just a slight rain but a strong one that would really wet the ground, then I would understand that it is alright. After praying that, I promptly went to sleep. The next day, I forgot about it. It was indeed an unusually bright and sunny day. I was busy doing my chores around the house when it suddenly rained in midday. I was amazed because while the sun was shining yet it rained hard for maybe five minutes that it made puddles of water on the ground. Just then I remembered suddenly my prayer that night about God giving a sign through a rain in the middle of a bright day. I tended to think that it was just a simple coincidence but I stopped myself from thinking that way. Why would not I believe it when it was me who asked for that sign? I would be a fool to disbelieve it. I would be setting myself up for YHWH's displeasure and even a curse if I disbelieved it, so I told myself. So when Sunday came, I promptly attended their worship service. When I was there, I found how warm and caring they were with each other. I see their fervor and their dedication in their worship to God. I concluded therefore that YHWH does not disregard their worship even if they keep Sunday. They shared to each other what they have. I was amazed by their humility and their love for each other. They may worship in Sunday now but later on when YHWH will choose it is time to reveal the correct day of worship, nothing can stop it. The wheel of time is still turning, many things can still happen. It's not the end of the line for them yet. We should not belittle them for error they are in. There is a right time, a season for everything. At that juncture in their spiritual level, they are still spiritual babes that is true, but then their growth will continue until they will be matured enough to accept 'adult foods'. So we should not try to pluck out the milk from them to avoid stunting their growth. One day they will go look for the mature spiritual food when they're old enough. YHWH's timing, I know will never go wrong. In the end we all will meet at the vortex to meet YHWH on the Judgment Day.