WE RECEIVED GOOD NEWS WITH THE SAD

We thank God for the visit from USA of Mrs. Remedios Galvez Reyes, widow of our late and beloved Bishop Alfredo I. Reyes and the husband & wife pastoral team of Pastors Nathaniel and Janet Blair. I hope I spelled their name right because their coming blessed us so much. We were literally overwhelmed.
To them we say, thank you so much for the early Christmas gift. They, however, also brought sad news that frankly bothered this writer a lot. In the USA, they informed, it is forbidden to say “Merry Christmas” to anybody in public. Prayers are forbidden in schools and yes also the playing of Christian gospel songs, anthems and hymns. You are also not to mention the name of Jesus Christ. There are no more Christmas Cards in the USA. Which led me to the question : Are the Americans, God forbid, trying to erase the name of Jesus?
Filipinos are good imitators but I hope we do not imitate our American brethren in this. Remember that verse where Jesus said you will be persecuted for declaring yourselves Christians? I used to think that He was talking to the Christians of His time, now I believe He is looking at us. Remember the verse that said, they that persevere up to the end shall be saved? Well, when it is declared illegal to say the name of Jesus Christ, will you stay up to the end?
Previously, Dan Brown came with his Da Vinci Code and now this. Perhaps it is time to revisit our Gintong Butil written by this writer years ago against the contentions of Dan Brown and the questionable Judas Gospel. Here goes:
THE JUDAS GOSPEL & THE DA VINCI CODE
Oh my, how callous have we become?
A Dissection by Rev. Gamaliel B. Filio
The Robe
They literally disrobed Jesus Christ when they nailed him to the cross. Now they are AGAIN trying to “literarily” disrobe Him of His Divinity and to reduce him to a mere man by marrying him off to Mary Magdalene and by demeaning him through his betrayer Judas Iscariot.

It would be funny if it does not hurt when you laugh. Because they are nailing Jesus on the cross once more and once more for the same reason – M O N E Y. Judas betrayed him for thirty pieces of silver and now after him come Dan Brown, using DA VINCI to make Jesus look bad, is making a lot of money – at the expense of Jesus.

The Crown of Thorns
Is there nothing sacred anymore? Have we really sunk this low? I decried the fanaticism and mysticism of the Roman Catholic Church of my youth. And yet I cannot help but be appalled by what this generation have replaced it with. We have crowned his head with thorns of disrespect.

The Lashing!
We use to utter the Name of Jesus with awe and reverence as befits the Son of God. But Dan Brown disrespected Jesus and lashed & tore his flesh once more at the center of an international audience through his Novel and now the movie “The Da Vinci Code.” And Oh how some people lapped it up and made it a best-seller and translated it into 44 languages. The producers of the movie, because of the controversy it created, is running all the way to the bank.

The New Pontius Pilate
The novel is FICTION, a product of the author’s imagination, and therefore not fact. Dan Brown took a button and sewed a colorful, imaginative but historically inconsistent and multi-layered SHIRT on it.

But since it is fiction it should be read like “Harry Potter”, “The National Treasure”, “James Bond”, “Mission Impossible” and even C.S. Lewis’ “The Chronicles of Narnia.” Nothing less, nothing more. That it is being given an importance it does not deserve is a testimony of how sacrilegious our world has become.

One said that while it is fiction there are some truth in it. They should stop pulling our leg because this statement is incorrect. You have to take a novel as a whole and not in parts. Even if some truths are injected into it, it is still fiction woven out of whole cloth.

The Nails
It grieves me that Brown did a Pontius Pilate in desecrating the name of Jesus by means of fictitious allegations and imaginations as did that Roman Procurator. That is disrespect on the Name of Jesus and every Christian martyr, living and dead.

The plot is imaginative but based on loose premises and untruths masquerading as widely accepted truths. “The book opens with the claim by Dan Brown that "all descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate"; but this claim is disputed by academic scholars in the fields the book discusses. As widely noted in the media, there has been substantial confusion among readers about whether the book is factual. Numerous works have been published which explain in detail why any claim to accuracy is difficult to sustain.” (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
The Cross
They are crucifying Christ on the Cross of Controversy. Because without controversy books, television, movies, and media has no other way to call attention to itself. And if people do not pay attention to them they will not make money. Truth is no longer important but Controversy that attract people. That spells M-O-N-E-Y.

Who is Da Vinci anyway that what he is implying in his Last Supper painting is being passed off as the truth? Brown made him the keypoint to his Novel and concocted a conspiracy as only a Fiction-Writer can. Congratulations, he started a controversy and he is now a rich man because of it!

But as soon as the controversy wears out, the book, together with its author Dan Brown, will be forgotten but the name they disrespected – JESUS – will stand forever.

The Tomb
Jesus died in calvary and they laid him in Joseph Arimathea’s tomb. Judas committed suicide and was buried in Potter’s Field. But while Jesus resurrected from the dead on the third day, it is the Gospel of Judas that is being resurrected today.

It is being presented not as fiction but as an original factual manuscript. And here the first debate lies, and secondly on what it contends.

Is it real or fake? The debate cannot end even up to doomsday, perhaps. I believe, however, that it is an absolution after the fact, written by one of the close friends of Judas to redeem him from what he has done.

But a discussion on the real role of Judas in the fulfillment of the prophecies about Jesus Christ is quite relevant to us today.

It is evident that the language and style of this gospel is so different, if not inconsistent, with the 4 gospels of the Bible. Jesus speaks in a different manner and about things not discussed in the four. Mathew, Mark, Luke and John are compatible and their books compliment each other although different in style and approach. And Jesus speaks in a way that is common to the 4 and other books of the Bible.

However, the verse that intrigues and the point of contention is that one where Jesus supposedly told Judas: “But you will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me.”

The Judas Gospel is contending that Jesus, instead of letting the prophecy be fulfilled through the people that has been foretold thousands of years ago, conspired with his “friend Judas” so that the prophecy will happen. And yet the verse admits that he is both man and God. If Jesus is God as he demonstrated when he raised up Lazarus from the dead, he does not need to conspire with anybody to make things happen. Prophecies will be fulfilled no matter what anyone does.

Did Jesus make a mistake in choosing Judas as one of His disciples? My answer is he did not, because the role of Judas was something that was prophesied and it was part of the plan of Salvation that God put in place. Nobody could stop it, nobody could change what Judas was, not even the Son of God.

Now in the states it is forbidden to say Merry Christmas and they replaced it with Happy Holidays. That is an exercise in futility because without Jesus Christ those supposedly holy days are NOTHING. And here in the Philippines they cannot take away Jesus from us. Simply because the name chosen by God for our church is IGLESIA EVANGELICA UNIDA DE CRISTO.

KABABAIHANG UNIDA UPHOLDS ITS LEGACY

There they were, resplendent and pure, swaying with hands aloft as they sing “TAWAG NG PAGKAKAISA”. More than 500 women of Unida Church merging as One in the Name of JESUS.

It is the first National Fellowship of KKU when it presents before God the National, District, and Local Officers. It is not the token given that was the more important but the acceptance of the commitment to serve God with all their soul and all their might.

With one accord they shouted: “WE ARE ONE. ONE HEART. ONE MISSION. Sapagkat ang layunin ng Dios para sa lahat ng mga kapilas ng kaluluwa ay ang magbigkis tayo ng banal na tali ng pagkakaisa.

“TAWAG NG PAGKAKAISA”
Adaptation by Rev. Gamaliel B. Filio
Sung to the tune of “Fishers of Men” and “Read Your Bible, Pray Everyday.”

Ikaw, si Jesus at Ako;
Maging ISA! Let’s shout, let’s go!
Tawag ng pagkakaisa,
Ibalita mo. Ipakita mo. Isabuhay mo.
Kaligtasang tinanggap mo,
Isabuhay mo.

Ikaw, si Jesus at Ako;
Maging SAMPU! Let’s shout, let’s go!
Tawag ng pagkakaisa,
Ibalita mo. Ipakita mo. Isabuhay mo.
Kaligtasang tinanggap mo,
Isabuhay mo.

Ikaw, si Jesus at Ako;
Maging LAKSA! Let’s shout, let’s go!
Tawag ng pagkakaisa,
Ibalita mo. Ipakita mo. Isabuhay mo.
Kaligtasang tinanggap mo,
Isabuhay mo.

Ikaw, si Jesus at Ako;
Maging MILYON! Let’s shout, let’s go!
Tawag ng pagkakaisa,
Ibalita mo. Ipakita mo. Isabuhay mo.
Kaligtasang tinanggap mo,
Isabuhay mo.

ELECTED BY MEN, CHOSEN BY GOD

UNIDA CHRISTIAN CENTER sits serenely at the junction of the by-pass road going to Tagaytay City and the smaller road going to Silang Town Proper, at the left side of Aguinaldo Highway coming from Manila. Here every three years Unida feels the presence and power of the HOLY SPIRIT when God chooses the men who are to lead the church for three years.
On May 21st in the Year of Our Lord 2010, I personally felt the presence of the Holy Spirit when I was elected as the “least of the apostles” but nevertheless was chosen by God to be the Tesorero General.
Alas, I can only speak for myself. The UNIDA way is so humbling. You end up saying to God “I am only so because YOU had your way.”
Last Friday (May 21, 2010) God chose the Unida Generales from the 11 set apart from the rest by men. I heard my name read for the first two positions but God said no. But in the position I did not prefer I heard my name read first and at a chance of 1:9 God said “I want you” and I literally crumbled with the question “why” twirling in my mind. But He quickly put me in my place. He wants me as one of the generales, no ifs and no buts. And like I said time and time again to other people, when God calls you there are only two answers: “Yes Lord and Yes Lord.”
Tesorero General. Pastor Gamaliel B. Filio, unang bunot. “Ikaw ang Pinili ng Panginoon.” 95 people covered my back and made sure that it happened and God delivered the coup d grace. I am in, the Unida way.

7 LAPTOPS USED IN BUC VOTING = GOD CHOSE HIS LEADERS BY PELOTILYA

April 11, 2010 is a benchmark in the history of Baclaran Unida Church. It is the first time that automated elections was conducted from where God is to choose the men and women who will be the leaders of the church for the next three years.

Unida by-laws provide that leaders are to be chosen first by voting and then by pelotilya. The voting part was done using 7 laptop terminals through the efforts of our young adults and youths. This was modern technology at its best. Voting results were out 5 minutes after closing.

Pelotilya was done as our forefathers did before us – drawing of lots as done by the apostles and disciples in the ACTS.

It was a spiritually-powered process that moved everyone in the church.

We will post the results by June.

BUC "BAGONG AKO" CHURCH CAMP

THE OLD SELF SUBMERGE; BEHOLD THE NEW SELF EMERGE!