August 9-11 UK-France-Philippines #4
Dear family, brethren, and friends,
On the 9th of August I flew from Manila to Zamboanga City located on the far western edge of the island of Mindanao where there are many Muslims. I was here over 20 years ago with Ramon Carino. He showed me the Catholic Church where as a young man he helped the priest gather Bibles from the community to burn them oin the church! He later became a true Christian and a dedicated gospel preacher who died in 2018. Subsequently, it became unsafe to visit here because of Muslim tenstions, but last year it was safe and I returned, and again this year. Jack and Adel Jaco met me to work with Alvin Miguel and other saints of the Canelar church.
A function room was rented near our hotel for 2 days of Bible preaching on the theme “The Authority of Christ,” beginning Saturday. About 60 of us gathered, starting the lessons at 8:30 A.M. with local visitors and with preachers who traveled as far as 185 miles. In the morning session we studied Christ’s authority is expressed in Scripture, his authority as our Savior and head of the church, then in the afternoon gradual departures from the true gospel resulting in the formation of Roman Catholicism. Next came the reaction against the corruptions of Catholicism resulting in the Protestant Reformation which produced a multitude of denominations.
The open forum facilitated fruitful study and discussion of various questions such as how to have unity in the church (we need the right attitudes and right doctrine), the basic difference between the church of Christ and denominations (we strictly follow the faith and practice revealed in the New Testament, while denominations follow human leaders, creeds, and traditions not found in Scripture), is it right to eat balut (duck eggs cooked with the chick in them are not eaten for the small traces of blood found in them, so it does not violate the prohibition against eating blood), and can Christians lose their salvation (when our past sins are forgiven at baptism, we are not guilty any longer, but if we return to our sins, we are guilty again and must repent of those new sins)?
These and other good questions consumed 45 minutes and we dismissed at 5:15 P.M. Some Catholic visitors commented that they learned many new things and plan to return tomorrow.
After being on my feet teaching for over 5 hours today, I confess to being a little tired, but the spiritual joy of such occasions more than compensates for the physical exertion. I managed to exercise, then eat and study, but unfortunately the clouds obscured the moon – we will keep a sharp eye out to see it again as soon as possible!
Jonathan and Nanette Carino were scheduled to join us for the Mindanao trip, but it was necessary for him to have foot surgery today due to infection getting into his bones. Obviously, he could have lost his food or even his life had this not been addressed properly. By the mercies of God, his foot was saved though he lost the hone in his big toe. We miss him but are thankful for the good outcome of the surgery.
The room we rented at the venue was filled with about 80 precious souls on the Lord’s Day, including 2 ladies from a denomination who attended yesterday. The morning session covered 2 lessons on the restoration of New Testament Christianity and how the gospel continues to spread around the world today, followed by 2 sermons this afternoon on avoiding apostasy today. Including the extensive open forum, I taught for 6 hours. I may be too tired to take my usual exercise tonight, but perhaps this lazy streak will pass.
One question was what steps must a person take to truly escape a false religion? It is necessary to understand and to obey the gospel of Christ by submitting to him in water baptism. Then, to grow, it is important to begin regular Bible study at home. If there are images and articles used for worship in the false religion, they should be discarded. Rather than hiding the new found faith, the gospel should be shared with relatives and friends.
Someone asked if a person was baptized in a false religion, is it necessary to be baptized again? Yes, the baptism must be by immersion of a penitent believer, and for the right purpose: remission of sins.
Several questions were asked about the Lord’s Supper: must everyone hold the elements to eat at the same moment, simultaneously, and must someone break the unleavened bread into small pieces before serving it? Those are matters of expediency which are optional, just like the number of containers used for serving the fruit of the vine.
Another question was what does the Bible teach about the rapture? Nothing at all. The key text used to support the theory is 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, but it contradicts crucial elements of the theory: The Lord’s return will be visible and audible, not silent; the righteous will remain with the Lord “for ever,” not for a supposed 7 year tribulation era; 5:1-4 shows all men will be judged on that day of the Lord’s return.
This region is heavily populated with Muslims. They are building a Grand Mosque costing $9 million with aid from Saudi Arabia. If they get political control, they will impose Muslim law, bringing many hardships on Christians. Please pray for the saints living in this environment.
In Christian love,
Ron Halbrook
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