Dear family, brethren, and friends,

Since I got to bed in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental at 5:30 A.M. because of the late ferry on Monday, August 11, I slept until 10:00 A.M., ate a late breakfast, and then went to Victorias City where Jack Jaco labors in the gospel.  I was scheduled to preach two lessons in the morning and two after lunch on “Moral Truth in an Amoral Age,” but I managed to squeeze three of the four lessons into the afternoon session with a full house of 63 people present.  The air condition struggled to cool this full room, and I was covered in sweat, but the way everyone listened so well made such factors fade away.

We finished at 5:00 P.M. Jack drove me back to the hotel where I exercised, ate supper, worked on sermons and email, and got to bed by 12:30 A.M.  A full day was planned for Tuesday, beginning with a two-hour drive to Puey, Sagay City where Jordan Cabras lives and preaches for brethren surrounded by sugarcane fields.  He erected a tower nearby at his home to broadcast the gospel on a make-shift radio station.  

Many of the saints make their living working in these fields, but this year a strange virus attacked the crops and there will be no harvest of infected cane.  Brethren are struggling to feed their families.

I was here about 10 years ago when the roads in the fields were dirt roads and were so muddy we had to ride in the back of a huge field service truck which appeared to be a worn out military vehicle.  This time, some of the narrow road was concreted and then the rest was filled with huge stones of all sizes and descriptions.   We were doing fine until Jack’s right front tire went flat.  He tried to call for help, but there was no signal.  By God’s good providence, a Filipino tricyle happened upon us and we hired it to take us to the church building where over 100 people overflowed into the yard at the entrance, including several denominational preachers.

We studied lessons entitled “Ethiopian Official Submits to Christ” and “Work While It Is Day!”  Afterward, the brethren provided me with a cool fresh coconut filled with the milk or juice, which is rich in electrolytes, helping to prevent dehydration in the hot and humid air.  My clothes were wringing wet.  I greeted the visiting preachers and the local brethren, and we had our typical picture taking session, but then we rushed off to the next appointment.
 

The afternoon was spent in the Sarromar Subdivision, also in Sagay City where Jerry de Erio preaches for a congregation in an extension to his house, which is a very common way to provide a meeting place in the Philippines.  58 souls were gathered to hear the lessons entitled “Simon Samaritan Sorcerer Saved” and “Work While It Is Day.”  In spite of the heat and humidity, everyone seemed interested in the lessons and many expressed their appreciation after the service.

Jack drove for two hours Wednesday to bring me to Escalante City where James Berden has successfully labored in the gospel for many years.  He is visiting his daughters in England, but the brethren wanted to hear the lessons and 96 people spent the whole day in the open-air church building in the extreme summer heat.  We were blessed in the late morning by a rainstorm which cooled the atmosphere somewhat.  The rain falling on the tin roof enveloped us in thunderous noise which forced me to stop preaching for about 10 minutes, but then I just stood in the midst of the audience and raised my voice with the microphone so we could go ahead.

In the morning we studied “Salvation: Amazing, Astonishing!” and “Saved by Grace through Faith.”  The afternoon included two sessions in the study of “Instrumental Music in Worship?” followed by an open forum.  

There was a questions about the frequency of the Lord’s Supper.  The meaning of “upon the first day of the week” in Acts 20:7 regarding the Lord’s Supper is the same as “upon the first day of the week” in 1 Corinthians 16:2 regarding the collection.  It is generally recognized among the denominations that this authorizes the collection every Sunday.  Likewise, it authorizes the Lord’s Supper every Sunday.  The Jews well understood Exodus 20:8 to mean every Saturday when it said, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”

Someone wondered if it might permitted to use instrumental music in worshiping God outside the worship assembly.  Some of the passages which authorize singing pertain to the worship assembly (Eph. 5:19; 1 Cor. 14:15) and some pertain to individuals worshiping outside the assembly (Acts 16:25; Ja. 5:13).  No passage authorizes worshiping God with instrumental music at any time during the Gospel Age.  

It was authorized in Old Testament worship along with animal sacrifices, burning incense, the Levitical priesthood, and various feast days commanded to Israelites, but it is not authorized by the teaching of Christ in the New Testament.  God is glorified when we teach and practice those things revealed in “the oracles of God,” meaning divine revelation (1 Pet. 4:11).  Since God did not authorize worship with instrumental music in the Gospel Age, He is not glorified by it.  Rather, it violates His revealed will.

After arriving safely back in Bacolod City about 6:30, I enjoyed a fish supper with Jack and his family, walked for an hour, worked on this report and a few emails, and finally got to bed shortly after midnight.   It has been a privilege to edify and encourage God’s saints in Negros Occidental again as they make their way toward heaven – and they have likewise edified and encouraged me!  I thank God in prayer for all of the saints who make these trips and activities possible.

In Christian love,
Ron Halbrook