August 31, 2019th Year of Our Lord

Dear family, brethren, and friends,

On Wednesday, August 28, I went to the airport in Manila to catch the plane going to General Santos City in southern Mindanao, almost 600 miles to the south.  My friend Hugh Walton advised me from his years as a pilot to “hydrate, hydrate, hydrate” when flying – when he is right, he is really right!  Let me explain.

The terminal was hot, the flight was delayed, and I had to stand a long time sweating on a bus which brought us to the plane on the tarmac before it was ready for boarding.  I was so tired after finally boarding I soon fell asleep after hearing the pilot say we would fly at 35,000 feet altitude and did not awaken until the plane made its approach to land.  I had gone to the airport at 10:30 A.M. and we arrived in General Santos City about 3:00 P.M.  It never occurred to me that I had missed lunch and had failed to drink anything while running this gauntlet.

Jack Jaco and Jonathan Carino had arrived just ahead of me and were waiting at the airport.  It was a joy to see them and we began discussing the Lord’s work as we rode to the hotel.  It was now late afternoon and I still had not thought about drinking anything since breakfast.  I began to feel the effects of dehydration.  It was time for an early supper since I had missed lunch.  I drank a 7 Up with supper but was still thirsty when walking back to the hotel.  So I got containers of coconut water, milk, and grape juice, thinking I would sip on these for the next couple of days.  Soon, they were all gone!  When I work late I have a hot tea to relax – so that was added later – two cups.  All the while I was drinking water as well.  I had now had enough liquids in a few hours to float a ship but kept drinking water until I went to bed at 12:30 A.M.

(Okay, Hugh, this is my mea culpa and I will try to listen better next time!)

We left the hotel about 7:45 Thursday morning to travel to Banga, South Cotabato to work with Bonbon Britanico.  Well over 50 brethren gathered from the Lake Sebu area and T’boli tribe.  Since this audience was composed mostly of preachers, I concentrated on lessons to strengthen local churches.  The first two sermons dealt with “Serving Christ in the Local Church,” discussing the duties of a Christian in the local church.  Jack Jaco summarized all of my lessons today in the Ilongo dialect spoken by these brethren.  The weather was hot and I was soon wet from sweating.

After lunch I took a break and Jack preached on the three dispensations of Bible history.  My next topic was “Why Saints Assemble,” a textual study of Hebrews 10 giving the context for verses 24-25.  The final subject was “Trust God Till the Danger Passes,” another textual study covering Psalm 57 and applications today.  Whatever trials and challenges we face in life, we can pray with David, “Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.”

Near the end of the last lesson a rainstorm broke, making it hard to hear under the tin roof and spraying us with water through the open window frames (there is no money to buy windows).  To escape the spray, we moved the table with the laptop and the projector to the opposite side of the church building to finish the sermon.

Two key words are necessary to negotiate Philippine life:  patience and flexibility.

During the open forum, there was only one question:  Does Hebrews 10:26 mean when people fall away from Christ and the church there is no hope for them?  No, it means they must repent and return to Christ as their only hope because there will never be another sacrifice for our sins.

The books, CD’s, booklets, workbooks, and tracts I brought were then spread across the floor at the front of the church building and the brethren were invited to browse and take whatever they wanted.  There were many expressions of appreciation for our day of study and for the materials distributed.

Two days of Bible lectures were planned for preachers in the vicinity of General Santos City on the theme “United to Proclaim Christ.”  Brethren came from far and wide so that on Friday the hotel function room we rented was bursting at the seams with 67 souls in attendance.  Jack Jaco initiated the series with a lesson on the Bible itself and how it is organized to present the message of salvation in Christ.

My first study focused on “Attitudes Essential in God’s Kingdom,” a verse by verse study of Matthew 5 showing that the first 12 verses lay a foundation for everything Jesus taught.  Those who manifest the attitudes Jesus outlined will easily submit to his teaching in all matters.  Those who have difference attitudes, agendas, and priorities in life cannot enter his kingdom even if we baptize them and they are enrolled as members of a local church of Christ.  This includes preachers!

Next we studied “Preserving Unity in Christ” as taught in John 17:17-21.  After lunch Jonathan spoke on the New Testament church in the plan of redemption.  This was followed by my sermon on “The Heart of the Preacher,” a verse by verse study of Philippians 1.  Preachers with the right heart put Christ and the needs of his people above every personal desire and interest.  My final lesson today pointed out that “Christ Teaches Total Honesty” (Matt. 5:37).  We cannot be “United to Proclaim Christ” unless we manifest total honesty, integrity, and transparency both in teaching and in our personal lives.

During the open forum, a young preacher had questions about whether the validity of baptism depends on the character of the baptizer and whether a woman may baptize.  This issue has been slowly dying after a very thorough investigation of the subject at Cagayan de Oro City in the province of Misamis Oriental several months ago by Jonathan Carino and other evangelists.  The power to save is in the gospel message itself and not in the hands of the messenger (Rom. 1:16).  The character of the preacher does not affect the salvation of the listener who submits to Christ in baptism by penitent faith.

Matthew 28:18-20 teaches that both men and women must be baptized to be saved, and both men and women can teach and baptize people (follow the pronouns in the passage).  Women submit to men as leaders of the public assembly (1 Tim. 2:12), but when men are not present women who teach or baptize someone do not usurp the male leadership role.  Actually, only in exceptional rare cases would a woman need to baptize anyone.  The young brother was patient to study with us and indicated the discussion was helpful.

Saturday our audience of 74 absolutely overflowed our room, so a partition was removed in order to seat everyone comfortably.  After Jack’s introductory lesson on the authority of Scripture, I taught “Helping Each Other” and “The Great Commission” during the morning session.  We sang an invitation song and a young man who appeared to be in his 20’s immediately came forward to confess Christ and to submit to him in baptism.  Mark Tumandan baptized him during the lunch break and we rejoiced with the angels of heaven!

After lunch Jonathan preached again and I followed him with a sermon entitled “To Serve or To Be Served?” showing the kingdom of Christ is a spiritual kingdom of servants with no high seats even for preachers.  I ended the series by preaching “Rejoice in the Lord,” a verse by verse study of Philippians 4:1-9 with emphasis on verse 4.  The life of every Christian including preachers involves a series of trials, but we can always find love, joy, and peace in Christ.

After we distributed books and dismissed, many pictures were taken and expressions of love and thanksgiving were exchanged.  Jonathan then brought a visiting denominational preacher to his room to answer the man’s questions and they studied well over an hour.  The preacher then decided to abandon his denominational doctrines, name, and organization in order to submit to Christ in baptism for the remission of his sins and to be a Christian only.  Mark Tumandan took this man and baptized him along the way as they returned home.  Again, our hearts were filled with joy and thanksgiving with the angels of heaven!

Thank you, dear brethren, for your prayers and support which make all of this work possible.  May God bless you many times over!

In Christian love,

Ron Halbrook

P.S. Donna reports that Laymon Byers came home from the rehabilitation center and continues to slowly progress in recovering from his injuries resulting from the car wreck.  Danny Dennison likewise continues to slowly make progress but will undergo a longer rehabilitation because he is blind.  I am reading reports which say Ron Daly in Indianapolis, IN is no longer in a coma but has an extensive period of recovery ahead of him after being struck by a car in a multi-vehicle accident resulting from road rage.  Let us keep all of these saints in our prayers.

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