Philippines-Japan Trip Report #5 April 24-30, 2025
Dear family, brethren, and friends,
About 2:00 PM on Thursday I bid goodbye to Rody and Tessie Gumpad, James Paet, and Rolly Salvador and his wife at the Laoag City airport and flew to Manila. After a couple of hours there, I boarded a plane to Cebu City, but we sat on the tarmac for almost an hour. The Filipino man seated next to me engaged with me in discussing the Bible when I explained I am here teaching the Bible. He is a member of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP), an organization formed by several denominations merging many years ago.
I explained some differences between the teaching of Christ and the UCCP. He sent his email address so I can continue to provide Bible study materials over the internet, in addition to a copy of “The One True Church” foldout tract which I gave him. He is from Tabuk in the Province of Kalinga where I have visited through the years. Perhaps it will be possible to visit him in the future and, meantime, I can put him in touch with gospel preachers who can help him begin to study the Bible.
When I arrived in Cebu City, it was good to see Jonathan and Nanette Carino again! They both looked well. After getting some work done, I got to bed at 1:15 AM.
The two-day lectureship planned at the meeting place of the Cebu City church of Christ began today, Friday. This church meets on the 14th floor of the Luym Building, an old hotel repurposed as a business center. Fortunately, the elevator was working today! The first four lessons on the theme “Life, Death, and Beyond” were presented today to an overflow audience numbering 90, with about 15 sitting in another room at the back.
The open forum produced questions about baptism. What is the best passage to clarify the conditions of pardon? Of course, that is a matter of judgment, but perhaps Mark 16:16 is one of the best. Jesus said all people must believe and be baptized to be saved from their sins. It is simple to show the contrast with Catholicism which teaches, “The infant will be baptized to be saved, and then can believe 12 years later at a confirmation service.” Or, we can show the contrast with the Protestant denominational doctrine which says, “He that believes is saved and may or may not be baptized later to join the denomination of his choice.”
Someone asked for an explanation of the difference between being born of the water and the Sprit in John 3:5 and Jesus baptizing people in the Holy Spirit in John 1:33. In John 3:5, souls are led to water for baptism by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, which is quite different from Holy Spirit baptism. Penitent believers are baptized in water by someone who teaches them, and it is for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38-41). Holy Spirit baptism was performed only by the Lord and only on two occasions. In Acts 2 He baptized the Apostles in the Spirit’s power in order to demonstrate by miracles that God had opened the door of salvation, and in Acts 10 He baptized Cornelius’ household in the Spirit’s power to confirm to the Jews that God accepts Gentiles who obey the gospel. In both cases, water baptism was commanded as a condition for God to pardon sin.
There were other questions and today was very productive.
The second day of the lectureship was very successful with 93 in attendance including all age groups. We continued with another four lessons exploring the theme “Life, Death, and Beyond.” You know your audience is listening when they begin submitting written questions before the open forum begins! Answering 17 questions required about an hour and everyone was very attentive even though they had already been sitting and studying for about four hours.
A brother asked for clarification about whether we should baptize people who say they were immature when baptized earlier in life. This generally happens because young people with good hearts have been learning the truth about God’s plan of salvation, and they decide to be baptized before they are mature enough to truly understand the meaning of the gospel. Not only do they need to understand the meaning of Christ’s death as a perfect sacrifice for sin, but also they need to understand the meaning and significance of every step leading to baptism: consciousness of sin, faith, repentance, confession of Christ as God’s Son, and even baptism itself. If they are too young to grasp these things, their baptism is not valid, and they need to be baptized again when they do understand.
Matthew 7:22 pictures people pleading they should not be lost because they had performed many wonderful works or miracles. Does this mean genuine miracles? No. False teachers throughout history have claimed to do miracles in support of their false doctrines, but their claims are false. Some are so thoroughly self-deceived that they imagine they actually perform miracles. They do pretended miracles or “lying wonders” (2 Thess. 2:9). In the first century, God allowed Satan to do limited miracles reflecting his malice by subjecting people to demon possession so that Christ and the Apostles could cast them out, demonstrating Christ’s divine power over the seen and the unseen worlds. That work was soon completed and never repeated, but Satan was never given the power to heal people.
If we enter paradise or torment in hades at death, what is the purpose of the Final Judgment Day (2 Cor. 5:10)? The Judgment is not the function of God trying to decide whether we are to be saved in heaven or lost in hell– that was decided at the moment of death. On the Judgment Day, we appear before God in the resurrected body to receive our final sentence of reward which has already been determined. This great event will make it transparent to all mankind and the angels that God is perfect both in justice and mercy on that day.
Will we remember our past when we enter hades and in heaven or hell? Yes, after death we will be conscious of who we are and how we lived, just like the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16. We will know our judgment is fair and accurate because we will be conscious of the life we lived.
A young person wondered what young people can do to convert their own family. The answer is that the influence of good in the lives of young people is very powerful when they set a godly example (1 Tim. 4:12). In addition, it would be good for a young person to request his parents to join him in reading a chapter of the Bible together every day, thus introducing his parents and siblings to the Word of God.
Leaving the hotel at 7:30 on the Lord’s Day, we drove an hour and a half across the mountains to Balamban where Cornelio Roda labors to join 45 saints in worship. The songbook I used came from the church in Kingston Springs, Tennessee and the homemade plywood communion tray was one of the many made by Laymon Byers, an elder at the Hebron Lane church in Shepherdsville, Kentucky where I live. Today’s topic was “Instrumental Music in Worship?” showing that Christ authorized New Testament Christians to worship by singing but not with musical instruments.
Another 30 minute drive brought us to the Seaside church in Mainggit where Shamar Cajigas preaches. About 125 souls gathered to hear the same sermon on instrumental music and a large part of the audience were young people. Everyone was very attentive.
During the open forum, a typical question was asked about using instruments in private worship. Passages such as Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16 refer to public worship while Acts 16:25 and James 5:13 refer to private occasions of worship, but they all require singing while providing no authority to worship God with instruments. Shamar has been improving his skills as a song leader and he expressed gratitude for the help and training extended by James Paet and Connie Balbin in recent months.
It is still very much summertime in the Philippines and my clothes were still wet with sweat two hours later after our return to the hotel about 6:30 PM. This heat leaves me exhausted, but that is a small price to pay for the high privilege of worshiping and working with these dear Filipino saints!
Monday we drove a couple of hours out of Cebu City to reach Libertad where Gil Suico preaches the gospel. The church meets in a large side room built onto his house for this purpose and the room was filled with about 40 people who heard the sermon “Finish the Race.” At the singing of a song inviting people to submit to Christ, a gentleman stepped forward to confess Christ and to be baptized for the remission of his sins.
Driving further we reached Bogo City where Rupert Ramirez is an evangelist in time to preach again at 1:30 PM after our lunch. A lesson on “Jesus Christ Is God” explained the Godhead includes the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and Jesus came in the flesh to die for our sins and to conquer death for our salvation. The final sermon is entitled “Back to the Bible,” showing we bring our souls back to God Himself by believing and obeying the teaching of His Holy Word regarding salvation, the church, holy living, and the family.
Rupert had invited two Pentecostal preachers from the nearby island of Bantayan where there is no church of Christ. He and other brethren had planted seed in their hearts. During the open forum they were invited to offer any objections or questions, but they said they were satisfied and wanted to be baptized. Rupert baptized them in the ocean. Now, as soon as he and others can find the funds needed to go to Bantayan Island, they will provide these men with follow-up teaching and help them plant true churches of Christ for the first time on this island. Would someone like to help make this possible? We rejoice again with heaven’s angels!
Our three hour drive back to Cebu City was safe by God’s good grace. It was a relief to get out of my wet sweaty clothes and take a shower back at the hotel!
On Tuesday Jonathan and Nanette Carino picked me up about 5:30 AM to go to the airport where we said our goodbyes, hoping to see each other again soon after having worked together for 25 years. James Paet met me at the Manila airport and helped me run errands, including a trip to his bank where he collected a Western Union transfer of cash sent by Donna because my funds have run short. Prices of everything have increased over here as elsewhere around the world and we have had such good turnout for our lectureships and gospel meetings that my expenses have increased – and I must be prepared to preach in Japan next, which is not a third world nation like the Philippines. The last few days have been physically demanding with the travel and heat at about 100 degrees, so I arrived here exhausted. Exercise and a good night’s rest have bumped my energy and stamina back up.
It was a high privilege today (Wednesday) to go downtown to the Philippine Bible Society with James Paet to purchase 840 Bibles in Filipino dialects. The Bibles will be shipped to brethren who have requested them throughout the Philippines and will be distributed to the waiting hands and hearts of saints who hunger to learn more about their Savior’s Holy Word. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this great work! I will need now to notify the recipients that the Bibles are coming, catch up with this report and some email, exercise, and get ready to leave the hotel tomorrow at 5:00 AM for a flight to Japan, God willing.
In Christian love,
Ron Halbrook
To see good Bible study material, go to:
https://www.
https://biblework.
https://truthbooks.com
https://www.truthmagazine.com