Dear family, brethren, and friends,

My 68th trip to the Philippines (8th trip to New Zealand) is now well underway.  By God’s grace the flights from Louisville to Atlanta to Tokyo to Manila were safe and uneventful on Tuesday (Wednesday by Filipino time).  Our plane landed in Manila about 9:30 P.M. making my total travel time a little more than 25 hours.  I had checked into my room and gone to the exercise room by 10:30 to give my stamina a boost for the next day.

Thursday morning I woke up at 7:00 A.M. and went immediately to exercise again for about 30 minutes before going to breakfast.  Today was spent making some preparations for my New Zealand trip and for the appointments to preach in Metro Manila when I return.  Everything was on track to be a busy but good day until I opened the six boxes of Bibles and study materials which came with me on the plane.  I was prepared to segregate the packages according to the labels we put on them at home to indicate which materials would be distributed in what places.  But, lo and behold, people working the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) had opened all the packages in three boxes, stripped away the plastic wrappers and labels and dropped them like trash in the bottom of the boxes, then dumped the books helter-skelter back into the boxes.

Even with four good Filipino brethren helping me, it was not possible to properly reorganize the loose mass of materials, but we did the best we could.  No one at the TSA has ever done this in the past and I have no idea why they chose three boxes for this kind of abuse this time.  Security must be tight but judicious and balanced with a little common sense.  It was not necessary to strip away the plastic bags to see they contained Bibles and books and the TSA claims everything examined is put back the way they found it.

AND, on top of that, think of the severe winter weather I am enduring!  During the past week, Louisville had several hard frosts and our days there have seen temperatures from the high 40’s to 50’s and 60’s.  When the plane landed in Manila about 9:30 P.M., it was 78 degrees Fahrenheit here and it has gone up to only 82 during the day.  Doesn’t everyone pity me – brrrr!  Let’s hope my flight to New Zealand is not cancelled because of ice and snow in Manila.

In short, we need to count our blessings, not our complaints.

After leaving Manila at 11:15 P.M. on Thursday, I arrived safely in Auckland at 4:30 P.M. on Friday via Cairns, Australia – a trip of about 12 hours.  The leg room on the Philippines Airlines plane in the economy section was definitely not designed for long-legged Americans.  My knees were pressed against the seat in front of me and when that person put his seat back to rest, I had to put one leg in the aisle and try to stretch the other leg at an angle under the seat – whew!  It was not a comfortable ride, but fortunately I got so tired I fell asleep for several hours.  There is a section with more leg room for an additional fee which I will gladly pay on the return flight.

Ronnie Salunga was waiting for me at the airport and we drove immediately to his house.  I took a short walk, showered, ate supper with the Salungas, and felt like a new man by the time 20 people gathered in their basement to study God’s Word at 8:30 P.M.  The lesson on “The Glory of God” covered Psalm 19 verse by verse.  The open forum ended at 10:30 and we went upstairs to visit and munch on snacks and to continue discussing questions.  It was almost 2:00 A.M. when my head hit the pillow – I had no trouble getting to sleep!  I am staying in a large garage converted into living space at the back of the Salunga’s house with a mini-kitchen and a private bath.  It is both commodious and handy.

The weather here is running in the high 60’s at night to the mid-70’s in the daytime.  Every night the moon seems to be beaming more beautifully!

The Saturday assemblies were scheduled for the afternoon, so that morning Ronnie, Nina, and I drove to a section of town bordering on a very long beach where we two men could walk while Nine shopped.  As we finished walking, I crossed some huge rocks on the shore and tried to make a short jump to a walkway going up from the ocean, but the handrail I grabbed was wet and I slid backward right into the waves coming ashore.  Other than my wounded pride, I suffered no serious injuries – just scrapped my arm and got a few bruises.  Fortunately we ate lunch at a shop that had outdoor seating where my wet clothes did not matter.

Our first Saturday session began at 1:30 P.M. with a requested lesson on “Holy Days and Holidays” (Gal. 4:8-11).  Our Catholic visitors were very attentive.  The open forum carried us to 3:30 when we took a break.  The second session started at 4:30 when I presented the first of three lessons regarding how the Bible came into existence and was distinguished from false books.  It was entitled “The Inspiration and Authority of Scripture” (2 Tim. 3:14-17).  These three lessons are important for the sake of young people who are exposed to the rants of professors attacking the Bible in colleges and universities as well as T.V. “documentaries” undermining our faith in God’s Word.  After a good open forum and some continued discussion over snacks upstairs, I took a 30 minute walk and then worked in my room until 1:00 A.M., followed by a good night of rest.

Twenty gathered for worship at 10:00 A.M. on the Lord’s Day.  By request we studied “Marriage: God’s Gift to Man & Woman” (Gen. 2:24) followed by “Holy in Life, Holy in Worship” (1 Tim. 2:8).  The Erasmas family who were converted during my December 2014 trip continue to attend faithfully.  Several other members have been added as well so that the basement is about ready to overflow at times.  The brethren are exploring moving to a larger and more public location as the next step.

We gathered again at 4:30 P.M.  Questions had been posed about institutional liberalism and about the International Churches of Christ.  Therefore, I taught a seven page outline with questions to answer during the session entitled “Two Attitudes Toward God’s Word: Conservative and Liberal” (Jer. 6:16).  We took a 30 minute break about 6:30.

I briefly explained the development of institiutionalism during the 1950’s.  This produced a generation of young people who were not well grounded but were very zealous.  In the late 1960’s Chuck Lucas at the Crossroads church of Christ in Gainesville, Florida was influenced by concepts in a denominational book entitled The Master Plan of Evangelism.  Based more on zeal than knowledge, this “discipleship” program involved high pressure tactics and psychological manipulation, but it grew and spread rapidly especially in college towns.

Lucas faded out of the picture because of personal failings and the movement became centered in Boston, Massachusetts under the dynamic leadership of Kip McKean in 1979.  It was formally organized as a separate body in 1993 known as the International Churches of Christ (I.C.O.C.).  In 2002 Kip resigned his leadership role, was later expelled, and then founded the International Christian Church in 2006.  In 2004 leaders of the I.C.O.C. and leaders among institutional churches met in a process of reconciliation.

While the I.C.O.C. has moderated some of its high pressure tactics, they share the false concepts of institutional liberalism and conduct conferences with representatives from local churches to plan national and international programs.  They also permit solos, choirs, and instrumental music in worship.

Our studies and discussion of these apostasies ended at 8:00 P.M.  Though I was exhausted, it was clear our time had been well spent because everyone recognized the dangers of these departures from the original gospel of Christ.  Several of the Filipino Christians present had come from the I.C.O.C. background but have repudiated it.

During the open forum Marius Purcaru (a Romanian American converted a couple of years ago) told about his wanderings in seeking the truth as a young man.  At the age of 16 he visited a denomination for a New Year’s service, thinking there would be spiritual songs and Bible discussion.  Alas, it was all parties and games and he still remembers, “I felt so empty,” because nothing fed his soul.  This reminds us all that precious souls are trapped in these churches which embrace the social gospel and some of them are very conscious that their souls are starving for spiritual food, the bread of life.  We must not tire of proclaiming the true, pure, original gospel of Christ!

After we dismissed I had a good discussion with a young man about 20 years old who is very near the kingdom of God.  I will travel to his home area to teach Wednesday-Sunday and he expects to join us there over the weekend.  He is very likely to obey the gospel at that time.

Ronnie Salunga, Marius and Roan Purcaru, and myself drove into Auckland about 9:00 P.M. to walk for an hour on some special walkways which Ronnie and Roan had a part in developing in their secular jobs (Ronnie works for a government agency, Roan in the private sector).  Ronnie explained that all new bridges and elevated walkways are covered or have some form of walled sides because so many young people have been jumping from them to commit suicide.  What a testimony to the emptiness and misery of a life of sin without God!

The beautiful moon the last few nights has been a powerful reminder of God’s presence, power, and love.

After I spent much of Monday preparing for our evening session, it was a joy to see 17 people engage in a study of “The Writing and Canon of Scripture” (2 Pet. 3:1-2), which continued the series we began on Saturday.  We surveyed how God provided the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament to unfold the great plan of redemption.  No books have been added or lost – we can have complete confidence that we have the very Word of God in the Bible today.  Once again the follow-up questions from the audience reflected how well these lesson are bing understood and received.

I saw the mega-moon tonight and it sends my mega-love to everyone back home!

Our series on the Bible ended Tuesday night with a study of “The Apocrypha & Other False Scriptures” (2 Cor. 11:3).  There were 18 souls present including some from a Catholic background who must learn to put their confidence in the Bible and not in the Catholic hierarchy if they are to be converted to Christ and have the hope of heaven.  We studied from 8:30 P.M. until 10:00 P.M. with good attention by everyone as we learned the Apocrypha was never part of the Hebrew Bible, many false books were written which do not meet the standard of Scripture, and all claims of “lost books” of the Bible are bogus.

It is wonderful to see the Meadowood church growing in faith, hope, and love as well as in number.  My spirit is always lifted up as we worship and labor together in the gospel.  This concludes my work in Auckland. I will travel to Whakatane to continue teaching God’s Word in New Zealand for the next five days.

Thank you for every prayer and every penny which helps to make this work possible as we seek to save souls and to fortify the faith of saints.

In Christian love,
Ron Halbrook

To see good Bible study material, go to:
http://www.HebronChurchOfChrist.com
http://www.biblework.com
http://www.truthmagazine.com
http://www.CEIbooks.com