Pedro Melendez

It is that time of the year again — the “Christmas season.”  Many call this time a “season of giving” — a season when people “give gifts” to each other.  And because people do that, it is also a season of buying — and selling!  Many commercial companies realize their greatest profits during this season more than at any other time of the year.

Preachers often bemoan the fact that, while the people are “exchanging gifts” with each other, they forget to give to the cause of Jesus Christ, who many say is the “reason for the season.”

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The month of November this year 2016 has been a crucial month for the people of the United States of America (U.S.A.) as they voted for their new president and other officials.  Through the ever-watchful eyes of the multi-media, the whole world had been witness to the colorful proceedings of the campaign by the two political parties for their presidential and other bets.  Now the election is over.  Many are happy about the result, but many also are not happy.

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And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy in their heads, they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (Isaiah 35:10.)

Practically everybody has heard about people who kidnap another person and ask for a huge sum of money as ransom in exchange for the kidnapped person’s freedom or release.  Unless ransomed, the kidnapped person could end up either as a slave to the kidnappers, being sold to others or, at worst, dead.  At best, however, the duly constituted authorities could hunt down the kidnappers, apprehend them or execute them, and rescue the kidnap victim.

The late founder and pastor-general of the Worldwide Church of God, Herbert W. Armstrong, wrote about Satan the devil having held captive or “kidnapped” the world, the entirety of mankind.  [See this link:  https://herbert-armstrong.org, click ENTER HERE and select “Books & Booklets,” and scroll down to the booklet titled “A World Held Captive.”  See also:  Where Did the Devil Come From?]

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Humanism affirms that there is an innate or natural “goodness” in man, that every person has dignity and worth.  However, a number of people — from serious to humorous — have tried to calculate how much a human being is worth, from a merely chemical perspective.

Almost all are agreed about the top seven chemical elements that compose the human body:  65% oxygen, 18% carbon, 10% hydrogen, 3% nitrogen, 1.5% calcium, 1% phosphorus, and 0.35% potassium.  The chemical value placed on these and other elements in the human body varies from $1 to $160  or more [see:  www.datagenetics.com/blog/april12011/ and several other websites under Google search on “chemical worth of man”].

Chemically worth a little under $2,000 at best, man is “cheap.”  And thus a lot of people so regard human life:  cheap and expendable.

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Just about every society on earth has its prison houses or jailhouses (gaols, to the British).  To most people it has seemed simply logical that, in order to contain the damage done by criminal elements in society, they have to be restrained in some place where society will be safe from them.

Some societies, or some eras, have even gone to such an extreme as to place erring or undesirable individuals in some dank, damp and dark dungeon — a hole in the earth.  Even before medieval lore and now computer games, people like Joseph had been given the dungeon treatment in Egypt (Genesis 40:15; 41:4).  So had the prophet Jeremiah been treated centuries later (Jeremiah 37:16 – 38:13).

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Today anyone who talks about “law” is almost immediately labeled a “legalist” or one who engages in “legalism.”  It’s so easy for this to happen because the word “legal,” says the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, means “of or relating to the law.”  It also means “conforming to or permitted by law or established rules.”

The word “legal” comes from the Latin root lex (law) and the derivative form legis or legalis.  From this form we also derive the word “legislature,” which the same dictionary defines as “a group of people with the power to make or change laws.”  That group of people is said to have the power to “legislate”  — to make laws, particularly for a political unit.  “Legislation” is the act of making laws and rules, as well as changing or amending them.  This same dictionary defines “legalism” as: “strict, literal, or excessive conformity to the law or to a religious or moral code.”

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And indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more.  Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men.  For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.  Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.  (Acts 20:25-28, NKJV.)

The apostle Paul especially addressed the above-quoted valedictory testimony to leaders of the Church of God, assembled at Ephesus, in New Testament times.  Although said many centuries ago, Paul’s words are vital, to anyone who professes to preach the Word of God, in order not to bring the blood of all men upon oneself — to cause men to go in the path of death instead of life!  Paul’s exhortation particularly concerns the church leaders’ responsibility in teaching those who have become true Christians — those whom Christ has “purchased with His own blood” — true believers in Christ. Because many preachers — both in the Church of God and outside — have failed to follow Paul’s example, many people have been led astray in their understanding of God’s Word and the true way to salvation — the way to obtaining or entering the kingdom of God.

Christ warned: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin [KJV, “…whoso shall offend (or cause to stumble)  one of these little ones…”], it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.  Woe to the world because of offenses!  For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes” (Matthew 18:6-7)!

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Yesterday, as I write, I had quite an interesting experience that suddenly switched on a light in my mind.  Days before, I had struggled with driving an old-model, but still trusty, Toyota Hi-lux pick-up truck which my kind nephew has lent for my use while my wife Paz and I are here in Malaybalay City, the home of my birth.

The whole time the truck had had a hard-starting problem because of a weak battery.  For this reason I had brought the battery several times to an auto-electrical shop for recharging.  For a while the truck would run well.  Eventually, however, the truck wouldn’t start, even with the battery at full charge. I sent for an auto-electrician, who diagnosed the problem as a defective set of glow plugs.  So a new set was installed, and for days the truck functioned well again.

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Joshua f’it de battle of Jericho…
And de walls came a-tumblin’ down.

This black American spiritual [song] was inspired by an exciting, miraculous and spectacular event in the history of the children of Israel on their way to their “Promised Land.”  The story is found in Chapters 5 and 6 of the Book of Joshua in the Old Testament of the Holy Bible.  For an oppressed slave people as the black Americans in the South of the U.S.A. were, back in the 1700s and 1800s, this Bible story gave them hope of sure victory over the obstacles confronting them on their way to freedom, their “Promised Land.”  While great progress has been made toward that freedom (or “emancipation”), pockets of oppression can, sadly, still be found in places, waiting to be broken down.

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