Basilan Bishop reading another Bible?

IS BASILAN BISHOP JUMOAD READING THE CHRISTIAN BIBLE? Bishop Martin Jumoad of the Catholic Church in Basilan in Mindanao must be reading another Bible when he said, in a newspaper interview, that the rains, floods and strong rains Filipinos are suffering from in recent days could not be considered as “curses” from God.

I say this in all humility because anyone who will read the Christian Bible, particularly in its books of Deuteronomy (particularly its Chapter 28, verses 15 and 20) and of Matthew (particularly its Chapter 7, verses 24 to 27) will not fail to see that whatever tragedies and calamities that we are experiencing now were the result of the curses that God the Father and the Son both promised.

In particular, it is clear that these tragedies and calamities coming from God involve the curses of rains, floods and strong winds which God promised to a people who no longer listen to His Word and follow His commands and decrees.

-ooo-

THE TRAGEDIES OF RAINS, FLOODS AND CURSES ARE CURSES FROM GOD: In Matthew 7:24-27 (King James Version), the clarity of these curses is spelled out in the following manner: “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock.

“…And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock….

“And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand.

And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it…”

-ooo-

TURNING OUR BACKS ON GOD HAS BROUGHT HIS CURSES UPON US: In Deuteronomy 28:15 and 22, the promise of curses is made manifest in the following manner: “However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you…

“…The LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him….”

Taken together, all of these Biblical passages prove, beyond reasonable doubt, as it were, that the rains, floods and strong winds being experienced by Filipinos in recent days, which resulted to the death of about 700 or so people and the dislocation of about half a million people, represent curses from God.

-ooo-

THE ONLY SOLUTION TO THESE CURSES IS GOD’S SOLUTION ITSELF: The sooner we realize this, and the sooner we admit the fact that God’s curses are upon us because, as the Bible said, “of the evil we have done in forsaking him”, the easier it will be to find a solution.

For if we admit that these tragedies are curses from God which came to us as a result of our having turned our backs on Him, then we can follow the solution provided for by the Bible itself: we must lean to humble ourselves before God, to pray to Him, seek Him and turn from our wickedness.

If we refuse to accept the reality that these tragedies are curses from God, and pretend that they are mere environmental aberrations over which we have no control, I am sure more of these calamities are going to be visited upon, and may God bless us all of us when that happens.

-ooo-

DESCENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: The third “Glorious Mystery” in the Holy Rosary of the Roman Catholic Christians concerns itself about the “descent of the Holy Spirit”. This mystery is no longer a part of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but of the Book of Acts.

In its Chapter 2, verses 1 to 41, the Book of Acts tells us that while the disciples of Jesus were gathered in one place on the day of Pentecost, a sound like the blowing a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.

Then, the disciples saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them, filling them with the Holy Spirit, enabling them to speak in other tongues and languages. The Jews who saw and heard them speak in their own dialects were amazed.

Some however made fun of them, saying the disciples were simply drunk. Peter then addressed the non-believers, disputing that they were drunk for it was then only nine o’clock in the morning.

He also delivered an impassioned talk about salvation of sinners by repenting and being baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, resulting in the conversion of about three thousand people as believers of Jesus.

This event also concretizes the promise of Jesus that He would send the Holy Spirit to those who believe in Him, as promised by the Father in heaven (Luke 24:49).

ooo

BATAS RADIO: Please listen to BATAS INTERNET RADIO, an Internet radio station under www.batasmauricio.com and www.eradioportal.com. Log on to either of these two sites, click BATAS RADIO and you can stay tuned for 20 hours a day, from 4 in the morning to 12 midnight, Mondays to Fridays, enjoying the latest news, credible commentaries, free legal and problem counseling from the point of view of the Bible.

-30-