December 13-20 Philippine Preaching
Dear family, brethren, and friends,
We left the hotel before 7:00 A.M. and a three hour trip brought us to Bogo City on Tuesday to work with Rupert Ramirez. Shortly before arriving, we stopped at the house of Gil Suico along the highway to invite him to join us. He was a tireless work for God for several years until he got discouraged and fell away. He was glad to see us and joined us for the whole day of preaching.
My morning lessons were “From Wretched Man to More Than Conquerors” and “The New Testament Church.” After lunch we studied “The Reformation” including its accomplishments and its failure to restore New Testament Christianity, followed by “Come Out of Her, My People.”
During the open forum, a denominational preacher asked several questions regarding whether baptism is essential for the forgiveness of sin and whether people baptized in denominations need to be baptized again. Yes, it is essential according to many clear passages such as Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Galatians 3:26-27; and 1 Peter 3:21. Yes, people who have received a baptism which is not for the remission of sins need to be scripturally baptized. He also asked for more clarification of the difference between the Old and New Testaments, so we studied Galatians 3:24-27 for several minutes. It was obvious his mind was open and he wants to study with Rupert more.
It was also obvious to me as I preached that Gil was soaking up the truth with great delight, as was made clear by his body language. Therefore, I asked him if he was ready to repent and he immediately said, “Yes.” We prayed for him to be forgiven and restored to his Lord – we all rejoiced with him.
61 attentive people participated with us in today’s studies. We arrived back at the hotel at 7:30 P.M., exhausted but happy and thankful for another wonderful day in serving God and His saints.
Roy Matta does a very successful work with the saints in Liloan, a municipality in Metro Cebu. Our Wednesday appointment was with this church and 47 people attended the all-day meeting including visitors from Catholicism and denominations. The first sermon addressed “Why Saints Assemble” and then we studied differences between “True Worship VS False Worship.” The first lesson after lunch was “When Peter Confessed Christ” and the last one discussed “Dangers of the Holiday Season.” When the time came for open forum, there were no questions because everyone said the teaching was clear and they were satisfied. Roy will follow up and continue working with today’s visitors.
It is encouraging and uplifting to find so many Filipino people who are interested in studying the Word of God! But it would not be possible without the help of many brethren who support these trips and labors in the gospel. Thank you, dear brethren for your help!
The last day of preaching on the island of Cebu was scheduled for the Cebu City church of Christ meeting on the 14th floor of the Luym Building where Jonathan Carino has been preaching for many years. This all-day meeting on Thursday including visitors from area churches such as Lapu-lapu City (where Pablo Espinosa labors), Talisay City (where Fred Ogario preaches), Cantipla (where Mario Rubio labors), Carcar City (where Cherlito Lauglaug labors), Balamban (where Cornelio Roda, Jr. preaches), Liloan (where Roy Matta labors), and some from other islands.
Our attendance was 79 as I taught on “From Wretched Man to More Than Conquerors” and “Preserving Unity in Christ.” We look a lunch break and then studied two sessions on “The Threat of Pornography: Making Sex an Idol.” Everyone listened attentively and there were no questions for the open forum.
Jonathan has shown some improvement with his health problems but needs more tests to aid doctors in diagnosing these issues. He recently had cataract surgery on one eye and when it heals he plans to have the same procedure on the other eye. Jonathan and his family have rendered invaluable aid to many of us who have traveled and preached in the Philippines through the years. We need to continue praying for them.
After bidding adieu to Jonathan and Nanette about 11:00 A.M. Friday, I flew to Manila and checked in at the hotel about 4:30 P.M. thoroughly exhausted. I pushed myself to take a short exercise, then ate supper and had a crash landing with about 10 hours of sleep. Saturday morning I recognized some symptoms of dehydration and consulted with Dr. Teresa Toreja. She started me on three medications which I will take today as I rest, work on reports, read email, and prepare for tomorrow’s sermons.
Lord’s Day morning I preached at the Edsa-Pasay church in Metro Manila where James Paet serves as an evangelist. 62 attended including 22 deaf-mute saints – Tonyboy Hornedo has been laboring with them for many years. “The Threat of Pornography” was presented in two parts. A young lady 13 years old was baptized by James and we rejoiced with her family and her. We drove an hour to attend the afternoon service at Parañaque at Jaime Battung’s home where 11 souls gathered. We studied the same two lessons on “The Threat of Pornography.” A man who has been visiting here brought his whole family today and they all were very attentive to the lesson.
A highlight of every trip is the visit to the Philippine Bible Society where on Monday I ordered 930 Bibles in various dialects to be shipped to saints all over the nation. They will be distributed into the hands of saints who hunger and thirst for the Word of God. What a high and holy privilege – made possible by donations of many of you who read these reports! When we leave the P.B.S., James and I typically stop at The Pancake House where I partake of the best blueberry pancakes in the world. Unfortunately, a brother who had planned to join us at the P.B.S. and for lunch was trapped and delayed for four hour hours in the congested holiday traffic.
I thank and praise God for another safe and profitable trip which included 54 teaching sessions and resulted in 19 baptisms. My focus has been on lessons designed to edify and encourage saints to be strong and faithful as we serve God in this dark world of sin. Satan is avidly and tirelessly pushing his lies and false agendas around the world. The saints of God must zealously stand firm for truth and right without shame or apology. We must keep fighting the good fight of faith until we leave this life or until the Lord returns to take us to heaven!
Overcast skies have prevented me from seeing the moon the last several nights, but thank you to everyone who has been thinking of my travels and preaching throughout this month. Every prayer and every penny of support given for these trips go up to God as a sweet-smelling incense (Phil. 4:18; Rev. 5:8). Please continue those prayers as I will journey for over 24 hours to reach home today, Tuesday, to be united with my precious Donna and all the saints at the Hebron Lane church of Christ in Shepherdsville, Kentucky.
In Christian love,
Ron Halbrook
To see good Bible study material, go to:
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