As a young member of a Protestant family (UCCP—United Church of Christ in the Philippines), I used to sing with other church people the hymn “Come, Ye Thankful People, Come.”  All I knew then was that his hymn was a thanksgiving song for a great harvest of food grain.  I did not know its spiritual implication – a harvest of human souls to salvation.

The spiritual message of this hymn is Biblical enough for the Worldwide Church of God (WCG), in which I was later baptized [see: “About the Author”], to see it fit to include it in its revised Hymnal (1993).  In this edition however, the editors chose not to include the original lyrics of the third stanza of the hymn, which goes:

For the Lord our God shall come,

And shall take His harvest home,

From His field shall in that day

All offenses purge away;

Give His angels charge at last

In the fire the tares to cast,

But the fruitful ears to store

In His garner evermore.

 

This stanza would have been almost completely Scriptural (Matthew 13:33-43), but for some reason the Hymnal’s editors chose to omit it.

I was inspired by this image of storing God’s harvest of souls in a “garner” (granary or barn) – but not evermore! – to explain the meaning of the Feast of Tabernacles (also known as The Feast of Booths – Temporary Dwellings), which WCG members observed yearly, as God commands (Leviticus 23).

This feast, which WCG members simply called “FOT,” requires God’s people Israel to set up booths or crude shelters from boughs of trees, and partly stay in them for seven days of the festival. This was to remind the people that they dwelt in booths or tents in the wilderness of Sinai, before God brought them to the land He had promised them and their fathers – the land of Canaan (Leviticus 23:42-43; Joshua 17-19). The WCG brethren followed this by staying in hotels and other temporary lodging places the whole time.

When the Israelites came to possess the land, there were houses left by the Canaanites that the Israelites took for their own dwelling places – houses they did not build, nor spent money for.

I then equated the Israelites’ living in booths or tents in the wilderness with the meaning of the FOT. The “World Tomorrow,” as the WCG called the 1,000-year rule of Christ and His saints (Revelation 20:6), will only be a temporary set-up, wonderful though it will be. It is not the final home of all the saved.  It is but a great “garner” or barn to hold all the harvest of souls for a season.

 

The permanent, eternal home of the saved will be far more magnificent than a barn! It is a glorious city – “New Jerusalem” — not built by man but by God Himself — which will come down with Him to this renewed, purified earth at the end of the ages (Revelation 21-22; Hebrews 11:8-9; 9:11; 2 Peter 3: 10-13).  This is “forevermore” the dwelling place of the saved (“harvest Home”)!

The fourth stanza of the hymn captures this well:

Even so, Lord, quickly come

To Thy final harvest home;

Gather Thy people in,

Free from sorrow, free from sin;

There forever purified;

In Thy presence to abide;

Come, with all Thine angels, come

Raise the song of harvest home.

 

For more of this, see: “God’s Feasts and the Jews – Part 3.”

 

 

Pedro R. Meléndez, Jr.
09072026/25072026

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a young member of a Protestant family (UCCP—United Church of Christ in the Philippines), I used to sing with other church people the hymn “Come, Ye Thankful People, Come.”  All I knew then was that his hymn was a thanksgiving song for a great harvest of food grain.  I did not know its spiritual implication – a harvest of human souls to salvation.

The spiritual message of this hymn is Biblical enough for the Worldwide Church of God (WCG), in which I was later baptized [see: “About the Author”], to see it fit to include it in its revised Hymnal (1993).  In this edition however, the editors chose not to include the original lyrics of the third stanza of the hymn, which goes:

For the Lord our God shall come,

And shall take His harvest home,

From His field shall in that day

All offenses purge away;

Give His angels charge at last

In the fire the tares to cast,

But the fruitful ears to store

In His garner evermore.

 

This stanza would have been almost completely Scriptural (Matthew 13:33-43), but for some reason the Hymnal’s editors chose to omit it.

 

I was inspired by this image of storing God’s harvest of souls in a “garner” (granary or barn) – but not evermore! – to explain the meaning of the Feast of Tabernacles (also known as The Feast of Booths – Temporary Dwellings), which WCG members observed yearly, as God commands (Leviticus 23).

 

This feast, which WCG members simply called “FOT,” requires God’s people Israel to set up booths or crude shelters from boughs of trees, and partly stay in them for seven days of the festival. This was to remind the people that they dwelt in booths or tents in the wilderness of Sinai, before God brought them to the land He had promised them and their fathers – the land of Canaan (Leviticus 23:42-43; Joshua 17-19). The WCG brethren followed this by staying in hotels and other temporary lodging places the whole time.

 

When the Israelites came to possess the land, there were houses left by the Canaanites that the Israelites took for their own dwelling places – houses they did not build, nor spent money for.

 

I then equated the Israelites’ living in booths or tents in the wilderness with the meaning of the FOT. The “World Tomorrow,” as the WCG called the 1,000-year rule of Christ and His saints (Revelation 20:6), will only be a temporary set-up, wonderful though it will be. It is not the final home of all the saved.  It is but a great “garner” or barn to hold all the harvest of souls for a season.

 

The permanent, eternal home of the saved will be far more magnificent than a barn! It is a glorious city – “New Jerusalem” — not built by man but by God Himself — which will come down with Him to this renewed, purified earth at the end of the ages (Revelation 21-22; Hebrews 11:8-9; 9:11; 2 Peter 3: 10-13).  This is “forevermore” the dwelling place of the saved (“harvest Home”)!

The fourth stanza of the hymn captures this well:

 

Even so, Lord, quickly come

To Thy final harvest home;

Gather Thy people in,

Free from sorrow, free from sin;

There forever purified,

In Thy presence to abide;

Come, with all Thine angels, come

Raise the song of harvest home.

 

For more of this, see: “God’s Feasts and the Jews – Part 3.”

 

 

 

Pedro R. Melendez, Jr.

09072026/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Continuing from my last article, the carol “Joy to the World, the Lord Has Come!” exalts, in its fourth stanza:

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love.And wonders of His love,
And wonders, and wonders of His love!

In my rather lengthy article “Two Goats Together,” I labored to explain that the festival Day of Atonement is not a celebration of Christ putting away Satan from human society. Rather, it is a celebration of Christ’s atoning love, which He will extend to the rest of mankind whom God has not called to salvation (unlike the “elect” or Church of God) in this present age, beginning with mortals who will survive the destruction at Christ’s “second coming.”

Christ’s loving rule over all the earth is likened to a “wedding feast” – a sumptuous banquet – when Christ (the “Lamb of God”) as the Bridegroom celebrates His wedding to His “Bride” – the glorified Church/Israel of God (Matthew 22:1-14; Revelation 19:9).

Christ’s rule over all the earth with His “Bride” will be so filled with love that many more – perhaps millions more – “children of God” [human beings brought into the divine, glorious family of God as His begotten “children”] will be the “fruit” or outcome!

What wondrous love indeed!

 

Pedro R. Meléndez, Jr.
09072026/25072026

 

 

”

In the 1990s, a small pamphlet titled “The Kingdom of Cults” was promoted by evangelical churches in order to warn their members, and the general public, about the enticements of several so-called “cults” that have swayed a good number of people.  Along with the Mormons [Church of Christ of Latter-day Saints”] and Jehovah’s Witnesses, the pamphlet also cited, among others, the Worldwide Church of God (WCG), and warned against the bane of “Armstrongism” [coined for the teachings of the denomination’s founder and pastor-general, Herbert W. Armstrong (HWA)].

As you can read in “About the Author” on this my website, I became baptized in the WCG in 1966, after having been challenged by WCG literature to “Prove all things” by God’s word, the Holy Bible. A college classmate and distant relative of mine, who was a member of a local Protestant denomination, learned that I had been reading WCG literature, and forthwith handed me a copy of the above-mentioned pamphlet.

Notwithstanding, I went on to be baptized and had remained in the WCG until its breakup in late 1995, when WCG Pastor-general Joseph W. Tkach, who replaced Mr. Armstrong after his death in early 1986, introduced to the brethren what came to be known as the “new covenant” teachings, thereby transforming WCG into an evangelical, “orthodox” denomination.

Naturally, the evangelical community warmly welcomed the transformation as an unprecedented “miracle,” and the former WCG, now changed to Grace Communion International (GCI), became a member of World Evangelical Fellowship (WEF).

In a video (“Called to Be Free”) which chronicles the WCG’s transition from “cult” to an orthodox, (mainstream) Christian denomination, former minister Greg Albrecht, his face etched with horror, recounts how his mother told him, “We had been in a cult!” and thanks God for having “liberated” them from it.  [“Called To Be Free.”]

About this time also, one of GCI’s top executives, Michael Feazell, published the book titled The Liberation of the Worldwide Church of God. [Search Google also as to how to purchase a copy of this book on-line, or visit a religious bookstore in your vicinity.]

Unlike the majority of former WCG members who have joined GCI, I chose to still uphold most of the former WCG teachings as faithful to the Holy Scriptures.  I was inspired to set up this present website [see: https://www.pool-of-siloam.com] in order to promote this, and to correct what seem to me to be out of line in those teachings.

Why is there such a strong reaction to what people consider a “cult?”

Webster’s New World Dictionary (Third College Edition) defines “cult” as:

1a) a system of religious worship or ritual, b) a quasi-religious group, often living in a colony, with a charismatic leader who indoctrinates members with unorthodox or extremist view, practices, or beliefs, 2a) devoted attachment to, or extravagant admiration for, a person, principle, or lifestyle, esp. when regarded as a fad [a cult of nudism], b) the object of such attachment, 3a) a group of followers, sect.

As a young boy, I heard my mother (who was a Protestant) talk about her family in Malolos, Bulacan often holding religious meetings in their home or chapel, where they would sing hymns, read and/or discuss Scripture passages, pray, etc. She called these meetings “kulto,” obviously derived from the same root as the English “cult.” Like the above-quoted Dictionary’s first definition, a cult simply means a religious service or ritual.

The Dictionary’s 1b) and 2a) definitions of “cult” are more concerning and are applied to what the majority denominations consider “fringe” religious organizations. [Interestingly, one of the glowing articles that came out after the WCG’s transformation was Ruth Tucker’s “From the Fringe to the Fold.”]

“Cultphobia,” as we may call the strong negative reaction to the perception of cults, greatly affects people after such sensational and horrific news as the mass-suicide of members of an extreme, fanatical sect or cult in Waco, Texas, U.S.A, some decades ago.

When we come right down to it, however, every movement or organization has to start with someone with enough personality or charisma to persuade a number of those who learn about their doctrine, theology or philosophy, etc. to follow them.

In this sense, all religions are “cults,” because they all developed through the influence of some strong, persuasive leader!

Thus, we may call the Jewish religion [“Judaism”] a “cult” established through Moses and the other prophets. So can we call Christianity a “cult” led by Jesus of Nazareth.  [In fact, the early Christian movement was despised as a “sect of the Nazarenes” (Acts 14:3). [See: “The Black Nazarene Cult”]. Islam can also be considered a “cult” founded by Mohammed. [Moslems are also called by some as “Mohammedans,” a name they reject, preferring to be called “Moslem,” and their religion “Islam.”]

So it goes with Buddhism (Gautama Buddha), Taoism (Confucius), etc. The Roman Catholic Church looks to the apostle Peter as its original head. Most Protestants trace their origin to Martin Luther and other Reformation leaders. The Church of the Latter-day Saints [Mormons] has Joseph Smith as its founder. The Society of Friends [Quakers] was established by George Fox, as was WCG, by Herbert W, Armstrong.  In the Philippines, local religious organizations can also be called “cults” too: Iglesia ni Cristo or INC (Felix Manalo), Philippine Independent Catholic Church (Gregorio Aglipay), Ang Dating Daan (Ely Soriano), etc.

Shortly before and after the breakup of the former WCG, several splinter groups arose, each with a strong leader at its helm: Garner Ted Armstrong headed The Church of God International (CGI); Roderick Meredith, Living Church of God (LCG); Gerald Flurry, Philadelphia Church of God (PCG); Joseph Tkach, Grace Communion International (GCI), etc.

One day – perhaps soon! – we will all stand before the Judgment Seat of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ at His imminent return.  He will judge everyone according to whether or not we have been faithful in observing all His words, commandments and laws, doing good works as a result of genuine faith. [See: “I Never Knew You!” “Saved for Good Works,” “The De-liberation of the Worldwide Church of God,” “In Retrospect,” “Moses and Jesus – Are They Contraries?” and “Judged by Our Works.”]

Finally, if ever someone calls your church or denomination a “cult,” have no fear!  You are in good company! But be sure to “prove all things” and know where the truth is. [See: https://www.herbert-arnstrong.org, click ENTER HERE, select “Books & Booklets,” and scroll down to the booklet titled “A True History of the True Church.”]

 

Pedro R. Meléndez, Jr.
06072026/1107206

 

As I write, I have just come upon a “Discipleship 101 Study Guide” (Unit 2A), published by the Worldwide Church of God (WCG).  In it then Pastor General Joseph Tkach, in year 2000, wrote:

What are human beings?  Scientists call us Homo sapiens, a member of the animal kingdom. Scripture calls us nephesh, a [Hebrew] word that is also used for animals, [meaning, “a living being”]. We have spirit just as animals do. Our anatomy and physiology is [sic] like that [sic] of an animal. [Emphasis added.]

The above-emphasized statement needs to be clarified in light of the Holy Scriptures, the Bible.

Job 32:8 says, “But there is a spirit in man.”  Zechariah 12:1 echoes this: “…the LORD…who forms the spirit of man within him.”  Ecclesiastes 12:6-7 says that, at death man (who is made of the earth or dust) will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God, who gave it.

The things of man” – human knowledge – is possible through the spirit in man. Paul contrasts this with the “things of God,” knowledge that can only be had through the Spirit of God, which He gives to His elect or chosen people (Verse 12).

Ecclesiastes 3:21 says that, at death, “…the spirit [Hebrew ruach] of animals goes down to the earth.” “Spirit” here refers to the breath [as ruach can also be translated into]. That spirit or breath simply dissipates into the earth, as does man’s breath at death, but man’s spirit returns to God for safekeeping until the resurrection “at the last day.”

We sometimes speak of an energetic or lively horse as a “spirited” one, but this not to say that the horse has spirit in it as man has a spirit placed in him by God.

Animals do understand some of the “things of man” in such a way as to respond to man’s kindness, cruelty, or indifference. Some dogs have been trained to do simple arithmetic by barking the correct answer. But animals are unable to comprehend the complicated, technical knowledge of man, such as space science.

There are what we may call the “things of animals” – “knowledge” and abilities that are often beyond man’s natural powers. Man may not be as strong as elephants that can move logs with their trunk, but man has invented machines that do the same task. The “things of animals” also include the natural instincts God has equipped them with.  Thus, by instinct birds build their nests in some particular manner, where they lay their eggs, hatch them, and feed their young until they can fend for themselves.  [See: Of Birds and Men.] Bats use some kind of “radar” to navigate their way in the darkness of a cave or the night.

Although animal lovers may wish it did, the Bible nowhere promises that animals which have died will be resurrected, as the Bible clearly promises for mankind (1 Corinthians 15). Salvation and everlasting life are promised only to the children of God. [See: “What Happens to Man After Death?”]

 

Pedro R. Meléndez, Jr.
17052026/05072026

 

 

 

While at college in the University of the Philippines, Quezon City in the 1060s, I used to visit a Protestant church on Taft Avenue in Manila, where I once heard the choir sing an intriguing anthem, titled “Open Our Eyes.”  It was a prayer song asking, “Open our eyes, Thou loving and compassionate Jesus,  that we may behold Thee walking beside us in our sorrows.” And then boldly affirming: “Thou hast made death glorious and triumphant!”  And why?  “For through its portals we enter into the presence of the living God.”

Recently I read a devotional on my android phone that reminded me of this anthem.  The devotional began:

Billy Graham died on 21 February 2018 at the age of ninety-nine.  As a messenger of God, he had planned his own funeral very carefully to be a call for people to put their faith in Jesus. He had said beforehand, “Someday you will read that ‘Billy Graham is dead.’ Don’t you believe a word of it.  I shall be more alive than I am now.  I will just have changed my address.  I will have gone into the presence of God.

Graham’s last statement echoes what the apostle Paul wrote to the brethren, in Philippians 1:23 – “For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart [die] and be with Christ [in heaven], which is better [for him, being assured of his salvation].  Nevertheless [for me], to remain in the flesh is more useful for you [so he could continue to reap fruit from his labor with them].  See: “Paul’s Dilemma in Philippians 1:22-24.”]

For all his stature as an evangelist, by saying that at his death he would be more alive than while he had lived on earth, Graham completely missed God’s plain revelation in Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, about the status of the dead:  “For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten [they are completely unconscious], also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished. Nevermore will they have any share in anything under the sun” [emphasis added].

How could Graham be more alive in his death than in his life? It is a contradiction in terms! As I explain in my above-cited article, it is only man’s spirit – not man’s whole person [body, soul and spirit] that goes back to God at one’s death (Ecclesiastes 12:6-7).  [See: “What Happens to Man After Death?”]

Surely, Graham must have studied 1 Corinthians 15 [the “Resurrection Chapter”], which clearly asserts that we do not receive a spiritual, immortal body like that of Jesus at His resurrection, until Christ returns to earth to set up God’s kingdom here – hopefully soon!  In his enthusiasm to say that he would be more alive in his death than in his life, Graham got his timing wrong!

The author/composer of the anthem “Open Our Eyes” must also have had in mind Paul’s desire to depart [die] and be with Christ.  But, as my earlier-cited article explains, Paul had a different context than that of the composer. And certainly, the anthem composer missed what the Bible says Jesus has made “glorious and triumphant.”  Not death, but the saints’ resurrection to life at Christ’s soon return (1 Corinthians 15:51-55)!

In fairness, though, we do “enter into the presence of the living God” when we pray to Him.  It is like appearing before the court of the king in order to offer him our praise or to make our requests known.  If we believe that God is real and alive, we would indeed feel as though we are in His presence when we pray. But it doesn’t take our death in order to experience that!

 

Pedro R. Meléndez, Jr.
30032026/25042026

 

 

In recent days my wife’s caregiver has been playing “worship songs” sung by a lady singer. The songs have the flavor of modern love songs – in the style of songs our new generation sings to their beloved one.

On the surface, these “praise” songs (as they are also called) proclaim the glory and majesty of God as everlasting Creator, loving Savior from sin and death, sure Guide of our way, Hope in our dark days, etc.  They all sound Okay and legit.

But, as I continue to listen to these songs, in back of my mind I ask, “Is this type of worship really acceptable to God?   Is He really pleased with hearing them?”  Or would the words of Amos 5:23-24 thunder above the crescendo of these praise songs? –

Take away from Me the noise of your songs, for I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.”

Instead, God demands:

But let justice run down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

During His earthly ministry Jesus confronted the hollow worship of the Jewish religious leaders of His day – the Pharisees. He considered their worship as Amos did Israel’s worship in his day. Quoting Isaiah 28:13, Jesus said, “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:6-7). Psalm 119:173 plainly says that “All the commandments of God are righteousness.”  In this particular instance, Jesus was reacting to the Jews’ “tradition of men” which they observed strictly, but in doing so they were actually “laying aside the commandment of God” (Mark 7:8).

We could make a similar comment on the contemporary evangelical churches, which promote the type of “praise” songs such as those I hear often played by our caregiver. While these churches sing these “love songs” to God or to Jesus, do they also “lay aside the commandment of God”?

For one thing, most of these churches sing these praise songs during their religious services, which are usually held on Sunday, which they erroneously call “the Lord’s day.”

But this is camouflaging a great transgression of God’s plain commandment in regard to the day of worship He has made: the holy Sabbath day – the seventh day of the week, which most call “Saturday” (Exodus 20:8-11).

Evangelicals reason that the day does not matter, as long as one worships from the heart. But they forget from whose heart their worship on Sundays has arisen. Sunday worship was ordained by the Roman Catholic Church, in direct opposition to the Sabbath of God! [See: “Changing the Times and Law” and “Protestants and Sunday Keeping.”]

The same comment can be made of the evangelicals’ observance of holidays different from the holy days and feasts which God Himself commanded His people to observe (Leviticus 23). [See: https://www.herbert-armstrong.org, click ENTER HERE, select “Books & Booklets,” and scroll down to the booklets titled “God’s Holy Days or Pagan Holidays – Which?” and “Which Day Is the Christian Sabbath?”]

Another “doctrine” or “commandment of men” which evangelicals follow and teach is that regarding the kinds of animal flesh we are to eat as God’s holy people. [See: “Did Christ Cleanse All Meats?”]

Some evangelicals have also been at the forefront in promoting the LGBTQ+ community’s agenda. [See: “The Rainbow Connection” and “The Conversion Therapy Controversy.”]

We need to reflect on Jesus’ words concerning true worship: “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.  God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:22-24). [See: “True Worship.”]

Jesus said, “Your [God’s] word is truth” (John 17:17). He also said, “The words I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:13).

May all of us learn to worship God acceptably – in spirit and truth!

 

Pedro R. Meléndez, Jr.
15022026/25042026

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Mark 8:36 [“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul?”] is one of Jesus Christ’s famous sayings, which is also one of the most difficult to follow.  It has to do with what we consider the “most important thing” in our life.  As we would say, “It is [or It means] the whole world to me!”

To many people, the most important thing in life is “success” – often in terms of financial, social or intellectual status.  It could mean having all the wealth and fame one could obtain.

Now, let me hasten to add that having all this is not wrong by itself, or that it is not God’s will for us.  On the contrary, Jesus commands and promises:  “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). By “all things” Jesus meant all our physical needs (food, clothing and shelter, Verse 25).

It is, then, a matter of priorities: what counts first and foremost to us? Jesus says it must be God’s kingdom – our being under or subject to the rule of Christ – and having His righteousness – His power to obey God’s commandments, which are righteousness (Psalm 119:172).

The problem with all of us is one which our first parents. Adam and Eve, found themselves in, because Satan – God’s enemy, in disguise as a wily serpent – got them to disobey God’s prohibition (Genesis 1-3). [See: “Your Eyes Will be Opened!”]

As a result, this present world in which all of us their descendants have lived has all been under Satan’s sway (1 John 5:19). Satan has so thoroughly deceived us that we all have sought after the “world” which he offers: “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:15-16).

Before we become converted (changed) through God’s word and the power of God’s Spirit, we were overwhelmed by the lust of our flesh and eyes which led us to sin or transgress against God’s laws (mostly found in the first five books of the Old Testament of the Holy Bible). We had a “carnal mind,” which is hostile to God’s law (Romans 8:7). All of mankind [except Christ, Hebrews 4:15] has sinned and justly earned the penalty of death (Romans 3:23; 6:23) – the “second death” in the “Lake of fire” at the Last Judgment (Revelation 20:14; 21:8), which is what Jesus meant by “losing one’s own soul.” [See: “The Carnal Mind.”]

Our “pride of life” keeps us from admitting that what we lust after or covet becomes an “idol” which we worship in place of the true God!  The apostle Paul wrote that “covetousness… is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5). And Revelation 21:8 lists among those to perish in the “second death” those who are “idolaters” – those who practice idolatry or worship idols.

Whatever one covets or lusts after intensely or even consummates becomes “the whole world” to him – he has “gained” it! But Jesus calls all of us sinners to repent, or else perish (Luke 13:3, 5) – “lose one’s own soul.” Instead, we will receive everlasting life and be saved.

May all that I have written on this website help you on the road to real repentance and salvation in Christ!

 

Pedro R. Meléndez, Jr.
22032026/29032026

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A unique phenomenon which takes place every first week of the year in the Philippines is the feast of the “Black Nazarene.”  Whenever it is held, it hogs the news headlines on TV and in the print media.

For those who may not have heard of the origin of this feast, here’s a brief summary.

The blackened image of a supposed “Jesús Nazareno” (Jesus the Nazarene) has been enshrined in Manila’s Roman Catholic Quiapo Church, whose entrance faces the commodious Plaza Miranda where, traditionally, political campaigns and rallies are staged.  Stories have it that the image of a supposed “El Senor Jesús Nazareno” survived a fire that occurred on one of the Spanish ships (galleons) that plied the Manila-Acapulco, Mexico trade route in the 1800’s. The image became blackened by the fire, but it was not consumed by it, as though through some miracle!

This being the case, many credulous but sincere Roman Catholics here believe that the image supposedly has miraculous powers to heal ailments or grant any other request or prayer of the devotee. This miraculous power supposedly manifests itself most pronouncedly when the image is moved (in what the Spanish call “traslación” – transfer) on a wheeled carriage in a procession from the church to the Philippine National (also called “Quirino”) Grandstand in the Rizal Park, at the edge of the Manila Bay, and back to the church.

The carriage is moved through a stout Manila rope pulled by devoted men, who jostle to have a hand at the rope, believing this will bring them blessings or miracles.  Other devotees clamber up the carriage to touch the image or wipe a hanky or small towel on it. Crowds of other devotees line the streets where the image passes through, hoping to catch a glimpse of “El Senor Jesús Nazareno,” and be blessed.

When the image arrives at the Quirino Grandstand, it is placed on a platform where devotees perform what is called the “pahalík” (literally a “kiss” but figuratively a touch of the hand, a hanky or a towel), to implore some miracle or answer to prayers.     Police personnel by the hundreds are deployed to maintain order, as over a million devotees throng the image there.

Many devotees are ready to testify about answered prayers through their encounter with the image.

The fervor for the Black Nazarene has also caught folks in other capital cities in the country, where replicas of the Black Nazarene are likewise borne in a procession from church to some public plaza, and back.

It’s not just the credulous or simple folks that are devoted to the Black Nazarene.  In fact, a former Vice President of the country was a devout adherent to the image and joined the crowd during the “traslación.”

Is God’s hand in all this?

It can’t be denied that a lot of devotees have experienced all sorts of “miraculous” interventions and answers to their prayers.  But the question is:  “Is God truly involved in all this phenomenon?”  Is the hand of God truly in all this?

A key or “touch stone” to check where a doctrine or practice comes from is Isaiah 8:20 –

To the law [the “Pentateuch” or first five books of the Old Testament] and to the testimony [the prophets – see Revelation 19:10]: If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light [truth] in them!

What does the law of God say about setting up and worshiping images – whether of man or any other creature?  The second of God’s Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:4-6) plainly says:

 You shall not make for yourself a carved image – any likeness of anything that is in heaven above [including man’s idea of God’s appearance], or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the waters under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them.  For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

The Roman Catholic Church has removed the above-quoted commandment from its version of the Ten Commandments.  That is why the church at Quiapo  — as in other Roman Catholic churches worldwide – has a carved image of a supposed Christ at its altar as the focus of worship. [See: “Changing the Times and the Law.”]

How, then, could God Himself ever be involved in this Filipino phenomenon, even though it appropriates the name of Jesus the Nazarene?  No way! 2 Corinthians 6:12-14 answers with a question:

Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship has righteousness [the keeping of God’s commandments, Psalm 119:172] with lawlessness?  And what communion has light with darkness?  And what accord has Christ with Belial [a false god, even the devil himself]? Or what part has believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols?

The answer, of course, is NO!  Paul adds (Verse 17): “Therefore ‘Come out from among them and be separate,’ says the Lord, ‘do not touch what is unclean.’”

A miracle is something that cannot be explained in physical terms; that is why it is also called a “wonder.” But not all miracles and wonders come from God. The Bible says that Satan the devil himself can also perform miracles; but God calls them “lying wonders” (2 Thessalonians 2:9) – wonders done with all “unrighteous deception,”  to deceive people who do not have “the love of the truth”  and therefore will have “strong delusion” (Verse 11).

Jesus spoke of Satan the devil as the “father” of the Jews who did not believe in Him. Jesus said of Satan as “a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him…he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44). Through his lies Satan caused our first parents, Adam and Eve, to eat the fruit of the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” – thereby sinning and earning the death penalty (Genesis 2:8-17; 3:1-19).

Throughout man’s history, Satan has led mankind in all manner of false and idolatrous worship. Jesus says that we are to worship God “in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24). Satan has deceived the whole world and has it under his dread sway (Revelation 12:0; 1 John 5:19) into false worship and disobedience to God’s commandments.

1 John 3:21-22 tells us:  “Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us [because our conscience is clear], we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.” Furthermore, Proverbs 15:29 says, “The LORD is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayers of the righteous [those who obey His commandments, Psalm 119:172; Luke 1:5-6].”  Proverbs 28:9 also says, “One who turns his ear from hearing the law [of God], even his prayer is an abomination [a hateful thing to Him].”

Therefore, if we pray while disobeying God’s commandments – as Black Nazarene devotees do   — and receive “answers” to our prayers, we should wonder as to where those answers come from!  They most certainly don’t come from the true God Almighty, but rather from His enemy – the great deceiver Satan the devil, who is capable of performing “lying wonders!”

Another indication that the black Nazarene cult is not from the Spirit of God is the confusion  that has resulted in people getting hurt, even dying, because of the jostling and pressing of the crowd that wants to get as close to the image as they can.  Sometimes public and private properties are damaged.  The apostle Paul was inspired by God to write:  “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints” (1 Corinthians 14:32).  If God is not the author of the confusion attending the Black Nazarene cult, then who is?  None other than Satan the devil, who is also called a “Destroyer” [the Greek Apollyon or Hebrew Abaddon, Revelation 9:11).

The true “sect of the Nazarene”

The Book of Acts recounts the incident of the apostle Paul and his companions being hailed to the Roman governor Felix by some Jewish religious leaders, who accused Paul of being “a plague, a creator of dissension among all Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarene” (Acts 24:5-7).

Paul, however, denied the accusation as being untrue, and said that “I worship the God of our fathers believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets.  I have hope in God which they [the Jews] themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. This being so, I always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and man” (Verses 14-16).

How different is this sect from the Black Nazarene cult? By an unbridgeable gulf!

Revelation 21:8 and 22:14-16 says that unrepentant people who are liars and who love and practice a lie will be cast into a “lake of fire,” which is the second death” – and will be excluded from the Holy City – the New Jerusalem – and denied access to the “tree of life.”

This being the truth of God, I call on you, dear readers who may have been involved in the idolatrous worship of the “Black Nazarene” – or any other form of idolatry – to repent from the heart for this sin, ask for God’s forgiveness through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus at Calvary, and receive His Holy Spirit to help you walk in the way of righteousness and truth – and be saved!

 

Pedro R. Meléndez, Jr.
29012026/16022026

 

 

 

In Felix Bartholdy-Mendelssohn’s oratorio The Elijah, is a plaintive (of course!) soprano-and-alto duet, “I Waited for the Lord,” taken from Psalm 4:1, 4 — “I waited for the LORD; He inclined unto me. He heard my complaint, He heard my complaint. O, blessed are they that hope and trust in Him!”

Sometimes we are in a fix where we do not have time to verbalize to God our cry for help. Even in such a situation, our all-compassionate, ever-merciful God sees our problem or dilemma, how our body “complains,” and promptly moves to send the needed help. Indeed, as another song encourages, “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.” Jesus assures that we humans are of much greater value in God’s eyes than the birds of the air (Matthew 6:25-27; 10:29-31; Luke 12:6-7, 22-25).

I had previously written an article on this website, in which I recalled a Peter-like situation in my early childhood where I was in no condition to verbally cry out to God, “Lord, save me!” as the apostle Peter did when he began to sink in the waters of the Sea of Galilee while walking with Christ on the water but he suddenly lost faith when he looked at the turbulent waves (Matthew 14::22-31). But God saved me just the same! [See: “Just Like Peter – Part 1.”]

In this present article, I recount another episode in my younger days which sheds light on Psalm 4:1, 4.

I was then in my late elementary school or early high school days in my home town, Cagayan, Misamis Oriental (now Cagayan de Oro City|), the northern gateway to the country’s southern island, Mindanao. Our Boy Scouts troop decided to go on a hiking and camping weekend. That night, my buddies set up our tent by the Cagayan River.  I had only a thin tarpaulin-like sheet to lie on (plastic was not yet the vogue), and only a thin blanket to cover me. Then it happened!

In the morning, I was utterly shocked when I awoke and I could not move my body; I felt like I was a stiff sheet of plywood!  The cold of the damp ground must have gotten into my back and my whole body, rendering it paralyzed!

It was then that a sudden thought came to my mind, to ask my tent-mates to fetch water from the river, boil it, and give me a cup or glass of the warm water to drink.

I had never, ever thought about what this would do to me, but at the moment it seemed to me the right thing to do, to fight cold with heat.  As soon as the warm water reached my tummy, I felt my abdomen suddenly perk up, and I could then move my body and my arms! I learned later that this part of my abdomen is where the “solar plexus” is, a sensitive network of nerves that control the visceral organs, and is connected to the spinal cord, a network of nerves directly connected to the brain, and controls the muscles of the body.

I fully believe it was God who placed the thought in my mind, to ask my tent-mates to do as they did.  He heard my body’s complaint! And I am still alive today, (now 84, going on 85) to tell you about it, after it happened some 70 years ago!

This illustrates what the “sweet psalmist,” Israel’s King David, wrote in Psalm 139:1-6 (NKJV, emphasis added):

O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
You comprehend my path and my lying down.
And are acquainted with all my ways;
For there is not a word on my tongue,
But, behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.
You have judged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.

A more recent episode, in February 2018, shows the same power of God to help as my body “complains,” without me uttering or just thinking a prayer.

It happened one sweltering, hot afternoon in our now 29-year home here in Angono, Rizal.  At that time, I was still feeling very strong, even at my age then (I had just turned 76), for I could still climb the large guava tree outside the northeast corner of our perimeter wall, to harvest ripe fruits or prune branches, and do other vigorous chores, like doing carpentry or cleaning our water tank. [Over the years that tree was attacked by some blight, withered and has been cut down.]  We had just bought a truckload of sand for some concreting project here, and it was dumped on the street, near the edge of the sidewalk. I decided that, rather than hiring an extra hand, I myself would do the task of hauling the pile of sand to a free space in our garage, which is up on an elevation of less than a meter from street level, since our duplex house sits on a hilltop.

So, there I was, carrying a bucket of sand about 10 kilos with my left hand, and another 20 kilos with my right hand. I had just negotiated the some 25-degree incline ramp to the garage, when I suddenly felt a popping or snapping sensation on the right side of my brain!  “I just had a stroke!” I thought to myself, although I didn’t know exactly what happened to me. But I was aware that I had issues with an elevated blood pressure, which I had left unaddressed medically because of a residual Worldwide Church of God ( WCG) tradition of divine healing (James 5:14-15).

As I was slowly falling on my left side, just behind our parked car, a thought came to me – call it human instinct, or God’s unspoken word – to brace the left side of my head with my right hand, so as not to bang my head on the concrete pavement, thereby avoiding possible further damage to my brain.

I called out to my wife Paz, who was lying on our living room sofa, to come and help me get up on my feet and walk to the house.  I then asked her to call our next-door neighbor, Medardo Maninang — a former co-employee in our WCG office – to request him to bring me in their van to the nearest hospital for my immediate medical attention. God knew I would need my neighbor’s help, so He made sure he was available! But when we reached the local medical center, it could not take me in because they had no Intensive Care Unit (ICU), nor a CT-scanner.  I was referred to the neighboring town’s tertiary Binangonan Lakeview Hospital (BLH) and rushed there.

At the BLH I underwent intensive care plus physical and speech therapy for some two weeks, after which I was well enough to be brought home to recover further.  Our three daughters and their husbands pooled their resources together to augment my Phil-Health subsidy, senior citizen’s discount, and my late sister Mimi’s contribution, for us to be able to pay the hefty hospital bills and be allowed to check out.

At my request, my now late pastor friend in Davao City, in Mindanao, Edmond Macaraeg, sent me an anointed “prayer cloth” for my healing (following Paul’s example in Acts 19:11-12).  God knows well the complaints of my body, and our pocket books, as a result of my stroke — what with the considerable cost of medications, food supplements, caregivers, medical consultations and laboratory tests, etc.  And I still look to Him, in faith, to complete my healing – if not in my lifetime, then certainly in the resurrection to immortal (sickness-free) life at Christ’s return in glory (1 Corinthians 15:50-54).

God surely knows the complaint of the fingers in my left hand, which has lost its former skills in playing the musical keyboard, and “touch-typing” (using all fingers systematically) on the computer or laptop keyboard.

I long to be able again to “play skillfully upon the strings” as God encourages or commands in Psalm 33:2-3 (Scottish Psalter version). Before my stroke, I was already playing advanced-level classical piano pieces such as Elgar’s “Salut d’Amour,” Lecuoña’s “Malagueña” and Grieg’s “Notturno” and was essaying Debussy’s “Arabesque #1.” I used this skill to render special music as “offertory”during our WCG festivals and our family gatherings. Hopefully our neighbors in our subdivision miss the tinkling of our Wurlitzer bantam piano when I used to give them free classical piano “recitals” – or, maybe, they thank me for no longer “torturing” them with my playing of Hanon’s “scales!”

I also used to be able to “touch-type” at an average of about 70 words per minute on an electric typewriter or a computer/laptop keyboard, with about 95% accuracy.  I used this skill to advantage as the WCG’s mainstay “personal correspondent,” answering the questions about the Bible and other matters sent in by WCG literature readers or TV/radio audience. Using fresh research or our office’s stock answers, I could type more than a dozen ready-to-mail letters each working day. After I retired from employment at WCG, my writing and typing skills were put to use in starting and maintaining this website you are now logged on to.

Now, since my stroke, I have regressed to the primitive “hunt-and-peck” system of typing, using mostly my right middle finger to type the keyboard letters and figures plus the functions [tab, return, enter, cap lock, direction arrows, etc.], and my right thumb to press the space bar. About the only thing my left middle finger is able to contribute to the whole business is to hold the shift key on either side whenever I need to use the capital keys, and the Control (Ctl) key for uploading data. With this handicap I commit a lot of errors, which take time and patience to edit and correct.

Despite everything, I thank God that I am still able to crank out at least one new article each month for this website. I would appreciate your prayers for my complete healing and the effectiveness of this website ministry. Many thanks!

My point here is not to minimize or forget about regular, daily prayers to God and periodic fasting — to praise and thank Him for Who He is and what He has done for us and all of mankind, to confess our sins and ask for forgiveness, and to pray for the needs of others and ourselves. It is also important to read, study, and meditate on God’s word, the Holy Scriptures. This continual communion or “contact” with God makes us so close to Him like a Friend who knows our complaints, that even though we are not able to verbalize them, He hears and intervenes in His own time and way. What an awesome God we serve!

I trust that, through this my testimony, you, my dear readers, will also “see it and fear, and will trust in the LORD” (Psalm 40:3), and be blessed (Verse 4)!

 

Pedro R. Meléndez, Jr.
11012026/18012026