Dear family, brethren, and friends,

After teaching five lessons Saturday, I was concerned that my voice might be strained, but when I returned to the hotel I went to the exercise room for almost an hour, knowing this would increase my overall stamina.  I got to bed at 11:30 P.M. and got up at 5:30 Sunday morning and Jhun Bautista drove me to the Agbannawag church in Rizal for the 7:00 service.  The sermon was on “The Bread of Life” from John 6.   Our attendance was 15 and the brethren were very attentive.

We drove back an hour to reach the morning service at Cabanatuan City.  The brethren were singing when we arrived a little past 9:00. Both lessons at the Bible study period and the worship hour focused on “Avoiding Apostasy Today,” the last topic in the series on The Authority of Christ.  Jhun extended the invitation and a young couple who recently had been visiting the services came forward to confess Christ and to submit to him in baptism.  A grandson of Danny Banting also decided to obey the gospel as we prepared for the immersion.  All three were immersed in a large barrel with much rejoicing!

After Jhun’s wife provided a delicious lunch, we drove an hour to reach the church at San Jose City where about 25 saints were singing and waiting for us.  The sermon theme was “The Resurrection of Christ,” based on a verse by verse study of Mark 16.  A 50 year old brother-in-law of Jhun who lost his leg in an accident several years ago came forward to obey the gospel.  We went to a river and when he came up from his immersion, he raised his crutches in joy, knowing his sins were washed away by the blood of Christ!

The sky was turning dark as the sun went down while we made our way back into Cabanatuan City.  This was a long and joyous Lord’s Day – with the joys extending even to the angels of heaven.

Letting no moss grow on my feet, I got up at 6:00 A.M. Monday for a very full schedule of travel and teaching (actually, I am lazy, because Jhun got up at 3:00 A.M.).  Our first appointment was with the church meeting on the large porch at the house of Froilon David in Santa Ana in the Pampanga Province where Rupert Gaspar now preaches.  This is my second time to visit this congregation and I am delighted to know they continue to press forward in serving the Lord.

It was almost 11:00 A.M. when we arrived.  About 15 souls heard the lesson “When Peter Confessed Christ” (Matt. 16:13-19), showing that Peter confessed Christ as deity but Christ did not confess Peter as the first pope.  One Catholic visitor could not bear to hear the truth and left with a sour face after about 20 minutes, which is unusual.  Sometimes the attendance is smaller in the afternoon, but Lordy Salunga and I both preached to about 20 very attentive people after lunch.  My sermon was entitled “The Gospel Must Go” (Mk. 16:15-16).  No one was baptized but the interest level was high.  Rupert scheduled a home Bible study with one man and a lady in this neighborhood promised to return next Sunday.

We hit the road again and traveled to the church in the Sindalan community in the City of San Fermando.  At 7:00 P.M. I preached on “Restoring New Testament Christianity,” tracing the struggles of men who broke out of Catholicism and denominationalism to go back to the original gospel, baptism, and church in the Bible.

The open forum lasted another hour as we discussed questions about whether a person must be baptized by a faithful gospel preacher in order for it be valid.  Such questions grow out of the frequent occasions when men who learn the truth escape the errors in some churches of Christ regarding prmillennialism, institutionalism, instrumental music, or binding such practices as no Bible classes, mutual edification, or one container for the grape juice in the Lord’s Supper.

No, it is not necessary to automatically re-baptize all such people in mass, but rather each person should be considered on a case by case basis.  If, on the one hand, they were taught the Bible concept of baptism into Christ for the remission of sins, to repeat this process could add nothing to their salvation, although they certainly must repent and abandon these various factions.  I myself was baptized by an institutional preacher with the simple understanding I was being baptized into Christ to wash away my sins.  If, on the other hand, they were taught they were being baptized into a premillennial body of Christ, or a one-container body of Christ, as if such doctrines are an essential part of the gospel, they must learn Christ has no such body – all such bodies are foreign to the New Testament.  Like the disciples in Acts 19:1-5, they need to submit to the one true baptism into the body of Christ.

Each person must examine his own heart and conscience to know whether he understood and obeyed the pure and original gospel of Christ, and then decide whether or not he has already been baptized into the one body or church of Christ.  Several in the audience are wrestling with this question.  The discussion was frank, open, and healthy – Lordy Salunga led a very appropriate closing prayer for God to bless and guide each person to make the right decision according to His will.

After the dismissal, we had a very pleasant visit with everyone.  It was good also to see Ronnie and Nina Salunga who were visiting from New Zealand (Ronnie can have dental work done here for less than $1,000 which would cost $14,000 in N.Z.!).  After we left at 10:00 P.M., we returned to Manila and I got to bed about 2:00 A.M., while Jhun and company were still traveling to reach their homes.

It was another challenging day physically but also most fruitful and uplifting spiritually!  “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16).

This report is being written Tuesday, February 6, in my hotel room in Manila, between times of rest and exercise as I try to recover my strength.  I have been too busy these last few days to read and respond to email – I regret disappointing correspondents who send urgent messages and wonder why there is no response.  As time allows, I will try to catch up but cannot promise anything.

May God bless each one of you who take the time to read these reports and to pray for this work.  May He also bless your labors and service in your homes, congregations, and spheres of influence.

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