Nehemiah 8-9 | To the eternal praise of God

It should be noted that Nehemiah is a part of the books in the Bible that are called the historical books of the Old Testament, which basically tells the story of how God made all and chose to make Himself known to a people who will become a holy nation, upon which a kingdom bearing His name will dwell among other nations in the world. Nehemiah is the last historical book which deals with the return of Israelite exiles to Jerusalem.

 

1 Corinthians 12:27 | For we are part of one body

All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it. 1 Corinthians 12:27 (New Living Translation)

What is the church?

The passage reads: “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”  (New International Version)

In order to start the message one must first ask what is the church?

To be able to answer that one must know what Christ has to say about the church here’s one of the first indications that Christ says about the church.

 

Overcoming the poverty of memory | Studies in church history

Part 2: The blood of the martyrs

“The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church”

- Tertullian

The church begins and ends with Christ; this is an important truth that we all must struggle with as we study the history of our faith. At the same time the church is an extension of the communal life of those who followed Christ, his disciples, and I believe in order for us to start the journey of knowing the origins of our faith it is important to get ourselves acquainted with the people who according to Sacred Scriptures paved the way for the spread of Christianity in the known world.

 

Overcoming the poverty of memory | Studies in church history

Part 1: The need to remember

“Surely one of the remarkable aspects of Christianity today is how few of these professed believers have ever seriously studied the history of their religion.”

- Bruce Shelley

A friend of mine, Red Constantino wrote a book entitled: The Poverty of Memory and one of the main theses of the book is that the reason why the Philippines is what it is today is because it is guilty, of one particular sin - the sin of forgetting.

 

soli deo gloria

Fide Quarens Intellectum is among of the finalists for the Best Advocacy Blogs category in the 2009 Philippine Blog Awards!

 

Hebrews 12:1-2 | Look unto Jesus…

It wasn’t that long ago when I brought a friend from Adamson to a Sunday school class much like the one that we had now. It was the old Men’s class of Kuya Ponch Valenzuela, who also taught on this same chapter that we are studying now.

After learning that my friend was an athlete he began to speak about how the writers of the Bible especially the ones in the New Testament, used the language of sports and analogies of athletics in expounding spiritual realities. Much like the passage that we are studying now.

It is that lesson on this same chapter that we are studying now that he expounded on this chapter through the analogy of a race where we are all participant runners and all the saints mentioned in chapter 11, are there on the grandstand cheering us on in a race towards our end goal that is the crown of righteousness in Christ that has been promised to all believers in 2^nd Timothy 4:8.

 

John 10:27-30 | Have we missed the obvious?

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” John 10:27-30

Every now and then it is good to take a pause from whatever it is that we’re doing and look back, to see things in perspective. I am thankful that I was able to do just that this past week, and am specially more than thankful that Jeanie is now back in the Philippines, safe and a million times wiser. Lastly, I am thankful also of the Lord’s providence to my father as he had just celebrated his 80 years of his life here on earth yesterday.

 

Hebrews 4:12 | Pierced by the Word

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews  4:12 NIV)

To most of us a sword is a long, edged piece of metal, used for cutting, thrusting, and as a weapon. For those of us who grew up watching cartoons, the image of Voltes V, carving a flaming letter ‘V’ in the body of an enemy ‘Beastfighter,’ would be how we would picture out the way someone would use a sword.

 

Hebrews 11| Faith Seeking Understanding

“Fides quarens intellectum”

The quote comes from a man named Anselm of Canterbury, an Italian Scholastic philosopher , theologian, and clergyman who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109. Often called the founder of scholasticism, and as the archbishop who openly opposed the Crusades. Greatly influenced by Augustine, Anselm sought ‘necessary reasons’ for religious beliefs, notably the famous ontological argument for the existence of God.

I believe that Anselm gives us an interesting perspective on the way we intuit the reality of God.

 

Hebrews 1:1-3| The Revelation of God in Christ

C. S. Lewis memorably portrayed the growing Christian’s experience of an ever-enlarging Christ in his Chronicles of Narnia. Lucy, caught up in her spiritual quest, saw the lion Aslan — Christ — shining white and huge in the moonlight. In a burst of emotion Lucy rushed to him, burying her face in the rich silkiness of his mane, whereupon the great beast rolled over on his side so that Lucy fell, half-sitting and half-lying between his front paws. He bent forward and touched her nose with his tongue. His warm breath was all around her.