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MSU Adventist International, Loma Linda, CA (2026)

12/31/2023

OUR TRIP TO CANADA

Last week, we embarked on a 4,260-mile round trip that would bring us to Edmonton and Lac La Biche in Alberta, Canada to visit Teng's relatives. It took us more than 3 days and two nights to drive one way, starting from Loma Linda on Monday, July 8 and arriving Edmonton at 2:00 am of Thursday, July 11. We were cruising Interstate 15 all the way except for a brief detour to Yellowstone National Park on the boundary of Montana and Wyoming.

A month earlier, while considering the trip, I did some research on whether I have some friends residing in those places. True enough, I found a family who used to be my neighbors in Hinaplanon who are now residing in Edmonton. The Quilacios are very close to me because we belong to the same church which only consists of half a dozen families.
Then I remember that Wengweng Candelasa is also residing somewhere in Canada but I’m not sure which part of the country. Wengweng arrived in MSU when I was the one directing the choir and when I learned that she plays the piano well, she became the pianist right away uncontested. When I went to Manila for a study leave in 1983, she was still there assisting Remedios “Remrem” Ortega who took over the choir leadership. When I checked her page, I found out that she lived in Grand Praire, some 5-hour drive northwest of Edmonton. So, I informed her of our planned trip and that I wished to meet her but considering the distance, I would understand if it would not materialize. But she responded that she was willing to drive that far in order to meet me. She also informed me that Evella "Bebing" Aguilo is in Calgary, which is a 3-hour drive south of Edmonton. When she told Bebing that I'm coming, Bebing also decided to drive that 3-hour distance to meet us.

Those were the highlights on my part of the trip, the rest of our itinerary was meeting and bonding with Teng's uncle, a number of first cousins and lots of nephews and nieces.

On Thursday, Teng's cousin, Alex drove us to Jasper National Park reaching up to the foot of Edith Cavell Glacier which was in time for snow drizzling. It was the first time for Teng's mother to touch snow. We spent the night at a hotel in Jasper City and the following morning we rode the tramway up to the park's Alpine Tundra at an elevation of 1300 meters above sea level overlooking six mountain ranges.

On the Sabbath, we attended the Edmonton Filipino SDA Church which, as expected, I met Wengweng, the Quilacio family and Bebing. What I did not expect was that Wengweng would drive 5 hours on a huge 4x4 pickup truck with big wheels and elevated chasis. She arrived Edmonton the night before with 3 non-SDA friends who attended church with us. Bebing also drove a SUV from Calgary.

There was one unexpected friend who greeted me in church. It's Julius Betoya who I only knew in MSU as Dodoy, Alandrex's younger brother. Dodoy did not finish in MSU. He transferred to AUP where he would meet his wife. Since Teng worked at AUP during their time, they also recognized Teng and she remembered them.

After lunch in church, Dodoy invited us to come to his luxurious townhouse at the outskirts of Edmonton. There they offered us cold juice drinks while he was showing to us a video of their exploits in Mindoro as missionaries among the Mangyans for 5 years.
Too bad, time was so short for bonding. After the video, Bebing was already in a hurry to go because she is meeting her son also in Edmonton. We gathered around, sang one familiar song and I offered a short prayer thanking God for the opportunity of meeting old friends who have gone to different directions in life and then meet again at an instant in the same space and time after thirty years.

Since Bebing left her car at the church's parking lot and Wengweng left hers at the hotel they were staying nearby, we drove them back to be reunited with their wheels. I wish such meetings of old friends in unexpected places will become more frequent in the near future.
Then it was our time to bond with my Hinaplanon neighbors. They were very excited to see me and Teng. I am their first neighbor from the Philippines that they meet here in Canada. They brought us to the Alberta Legislative Park then treated us to a sumptuous dinner at a Royal Buffet. You can see our pictures in my FB pages. The rest of our visit was meeting and bonding with Teng's relatives. Her 97 year old uncle is still strong and active. I could not memorize all the names of her cousins and nephews and nieces and even grandchildren but I enjoyed every moment of it.

On Monday, we drove northeast for almost three hours to visit another cousin who lives in Lac La Biche. At 54.9 degrees north of the equator, this is the place with the highest latitude that I have been to. "Lac La Biche" is a French word which literally means "Lake of the Deer." It's the name given by a French explorer who discovered the place. It was in Lac La Biche where I found total serenity and for a time forgot all the cares of the world. Our most enjoyable experience was boating on the serene lake on Tuesday.
On our way home, we had another sleepover in Edmonton and then retraced our route starting Thursday morning. When we reached Utah, our wanderlust was again excited at the prospect of visiting Arches National Park and on the Sabbath, we find ourselves amidst God's creative wonders, awed and mesmerized at those gigantic natural monuments and unusual rock formations sculpted by time.

12/30/2023

THE BONFIRE, THE SINGING AND... THE FALL, UGH!

I left Loma Linda a little past noon of August 26, 2011 gearing for a long drive. At 2:15 pm, I stopped in front of Mommy Rebing Galope and Manong Ananaias' place along Robertson Blvd in downtown LA. They were already waiting for me. It took just a few minutes to put their belongings into the trunk of my car and off we went.

It was a Friday and traffic was quite heavy along Highway 101. As I drove on this familiar route, memories flooded back in my mind. I have been traversing this route countless times when I was teaching in Oxnard and spending my weekends in Loma Linda. That was long time ago. After nine years, our church's camping in Lake Casitas gave me more than enough reason to traverse this strip of highway again.

We arrived at around 5 PM at the entrance of the Recreation Area. The Osprey campground where we were assigned is situated at an elevated area along the northern shore giving us a spectacular view of the lake around 500 feet below. We were the second group to arrive. The first to arrive at around 3 PM was John Shue and Christina Brown, Liza's friends who drove all the way from the San Francisco Bay area. In a few minutes, Brian, the musician, arrived with the the Amoras: Rudy, Glady and Joy.

While Mommy Rebing prepared our dinner, we set up our tents. I had brought with me a new tent good for 4 persons but since I decided to sleep in my car, I gave my tent to Brian. Later on, Keni, Robert and Dan would join Brian in that tent throughout the duration of the camping. Since we were still very few, we held our vesper service around a table and dinner followed.

An hour later, Dan Belding called me asking for direction. They have already entered the Recreation Area but could not locate our exact position. Together with Dan in his vehicle were: Elder Bobby Gevera, Robert, Keni and Junjun. Liza and Farid, with their dog Wrinkle, arrived next followed by Pastor Ace. Dan was requested by Bobby to return to LA to fetch Sister Elsie, Keni, and Robert. They were able to arrive at the camp before the 10:00 PM closing time.

Sabbath morning, we had our sunrise worship at a designated place with Elder Bobby as the devotional speaker. More campers arrived early morning. Pastor Ace's daughter together with 2 cousins of Liza arrived in a white Toyota Corolla. Pastor Ace drove back to Camarillo early morning to pick up his parents. Aileen and Aldrin arrived in a blue Mustang. Melody and her 4-year old daughter, Ela arrived, too, in a red car .

During the Sabbath School, John Shue shared a mission story and I moderated the lesson discussion about true worship. The divine service speaker was Pastor Ace. Brian, the Amoras, Aileen and Aldrin and the young ladies took turns giving the special songs.

It was very heartwarming and so inspiring worshiping God in the midst of His vast creation. While singing or listening messages, we could not help but gaze on the serene lake below disturbed only by occasional boaters cruising every now then. A couple of model airplanes in attractive colors displayed their acrobatic prowess, rising high in spiral path and diving so low that they almost touch the water and still managed to land safely in their miniature runway complete with white lines and markings just beside the lake.

In the afternoon, the Santa Ana winds started blowing non-stop. The model airplanes returned to their miniature hangars and the birds took their place, gliding effortlessly above the lake powered by the warm winds but ready to swoop down when a fish was spotted.

Our youth program led by Liza consisted of singing, Bible games and a group dynamics titled The Life Saving Station which I introduced. Treasure hunting was originally planned but was scrapped because of the ferocious wind. During the sundown devotional, I talked about the earth, moon, planets, solar system, galaxies and the great God who created all these.

After dinner, we started gathering around a bonfire. Brian started singing the familiar country songs mostly by John Denver. He even accepted special requests that I dubbed him The Non-stop Country Station. All the while, I was moving around taking photos experimenting with low light from the bonfire and in combination with the flash. Then it happened.

I was going to the other side when my right foot stepped upon nothing. My left knee suddenly bearing my entire weight twisted as my left foot reluctantly followed my right foot. My left hand was still holding my camera while my right hand tried to grab on to something solid to hold on. There was nothing solid but thorny thickets.

I was still in a state of shock when I realized I stopped falling and all around me was darkness. I heard a commotion of voices above me and I heard my name being called a number of times. I tried to stand only to realize that my two feet have nothing to stand on and I slid again into a seemingly bottomless pit. That was when I realized that I fell in the ravine toward the lake some 500 feet below. I could feel the loose gravel grinding at my back and the thorny thickets brushing on my right arm while the voices above me were receding. Then suddenly my sliding stopped again. But I learned my lesson and I laid still. I know that the moment I started moving I would slide down further.

When everything seemed to stand still, I realized that the darkness was gone. A number of flashlights were pointed in my direction but still I dared not to look down what's below me. I was afraid that if I turn my head downward, I would start rolling down. Then they called me if I was not hurt. I answered that I am okay. I told them that if someone can take the camera from my left hand and they could throw me a rope, I can use both my hands to raise myself up using the rope. They told me to lay still because they were calling for help. Then I heard Farid telling me that he was coming down toward me.

When Farid came within arm's distance, I gave him my camera and he slid a little further below perhaps positioning himself to catch me if I slid down further. I asked him what is below us and he told me that a rock surface was protruding slightly and there's a big shrub on the side and that was where he anchored himself.

The paramedics and the fire engine Rescue 22 from the Ventura County Fire Department arrived. A firefighter whose name I would know later as Shanon climbed down to my location to visually assess my situation whether I was hurt. He asked me several questions testing my coherence and alertness. I told him that there were some bruises in my arms because of the thorny thickets and the loose gravel and I felt some cramps on my left knee probably because of non-movement. Then he helped me stand on my feet on a 75 degree incline with loose gravel. He asked me to move my arms and knees, shift my weight from left leg to right leg and vice versa, wiggle my toes.

Another firefighter climbed down, and a harness was lowered. The two firefighters helped strap the harness around me, the harness was then attached to a rope and I climbed as the rope was pulled up. Farid was also thrown a rope and he climbed after me. After I reached the top, another paramedic attended to me, examining different parts of my body and offered to bring me to the hospital for test and observation which I graciously declined.

It took me a while to realize after the paramedics left that my left knee was sprained and I mistook the pain as cramps. Mommy Rebing and Manong Ananaias took out their muscle rub and massaged my knee while applying the ointment liberally. That night, I slept very little in my car probably because my body was still awash with adrenalin. In the morning, the pain in my knee was getting intense that I could hardly get out of the car. I had to keep it moving sideward where it did not hurt to keep the blood circulating and very gradually, I got out of the car to join the morning worship where we thanked the Lord that in spite of the scary happening the night before, the Lord did not forsake His children.

After breakfast, we broke camp. We were ready to leave behind the scenic place that became our home for two days. The shared experiences, the communion with God amidst nature, the songs, the laughter and the camaraderie, the mental images of the serene lake, the birds and the model airplanes, including my scary fall into the dark ravine will forever be part of our collective memory.

12/30/2023

SOME PLEASANT THOUGHTS ON NAMES

If there is one trait that is probably unique among Adventists in MSU, it is the giving of new names---Biblical names, usually---to new members who join the group. During my high school days, we had this practice of calling our classmates by the name of their fathers. Thus, they called me “Lucio” and I had my chance to call them “Poyon”, “Filemon”, “Tasyo”, etc. But those were just name-calling and the tag was lost after graduation. But our practice in MSU is quite different because many of the names became permanent. Of course, most of those born to Adventist families were having biblical names already and do not need new names. In retrospect, what caught my fancy is the observation that names have their own characteristics. We will give flesh to these characteristics as we cite examples which are also our way of fondly remembering these people.

Some names are expected. These are biblical names that are natural derivations of their legal names. Thus, my high school classmate, Jaime Egpan Ondoy became James when he joined the group. Ditto for Jaime Gacula. Lemuel Tulod Lecciones is called El. Bible students Nemesio Eguna and Jose Zumarraga became Nehemiah and Joses respectively. Another bible student by the name of Nelson de Veyra Paulo became Paul. I don’t know if Jose Micabalo Oclarit was ever given another Biblical name but it seems that “Joe” is biblical enough (a contraction of “Joseph”?). By the way, “Jose” Oclarit is a very well-known name in Salay, Misamis Oriental long before he got the Most Outstanding Young Scientists of the Philippines award and before his name got listed in the International Who’s Who.

Some names stay. At least, as far as MSUans are concerned. In some cases, we get used to their given names that we forgot what their original names were. “Ham” is Hermes Anecito Arado Migriño although he remains Tito to his family. “Dave” is Fernando Rañosa del Rosario. “Phillip” (we always use it with a “Brother” prefix) is Tirso Dapar. “Paul” Sanchez is Vicente, “Sheep” is Linda Vilma Actub Ole, “Rachel” is Ronelie Chato-Salvador and “Shinar” is Shirley Sumilang. “Faith and Charity” are the given names of Genersol Guardaya-Monton and Daisy Mortejo-Alburo. Dioscoro dela Peña is called “Joezer” although Gillie also calls him Nomboloy because he is a look-alike of their eldest brother. Then there is Badrudin Magarang, that former Muslim from Balindong, Lanao del Sur, who embraced our faith and became a zealous preacher in our dormitory going from room to room giving bible study. We changed his name from Badrudin to Goodrudin. We also gave him a biblical name “Peter.”

Now this may sound self-serving but "Shem” is one of the names that stuck. My family calls me Emie. In school my teachers naturally called me “Hermes” although I did not like its feminine sound. That was long before I learned that it is the name of a messenger of the gods in Greek mythology and long before the Falkland War when Britain sent an armada to the freezing waters of the South Atlantic led by the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes. But since the time of Phillip and Gershon’s baptism when Nong Johnny suggested that I be called Shem I was always Shem.

Some names vanish. Rather, like some biological species, they become extinct. When my first bible students in MSU were baptized they were given the names “Ham” and “Japeth.” Thus Noah’s sons were already complete. But, except Ate Naidz probably, whoever remembers now that the baptismal name of Cyril Balmadres is Japeth? I made some quick analysis and concluded that the shorter the name, the better has its chances of survival. Monosyllabic names like Ham, Shem, Dave and Sheep come easily out of your vocal cords but “Japeth”, aside from sounding foreign is also a tongue-twister. And I extrapolated that if somebody has ever been given the name Habakuk or Sofonias, that, too, would vanish. If my memory serves me right, Mansueta Abing-Sabellena was christened “Mirriam” but somehow the name “Sweet” was more natural and prevailed.

Some names evolve. Marcelo Sumaya Rara, Jr. was not given a biblical name when he joined MSU Church. Friends, his wife included, call him Comrad or Comrade. I used to call him “Siloy” in high school but I stopped using it because it sounds too old-fashioned and rural and especially after our officemates at NPC started calling him Siloy to his dislike. He warned them that only Bro Shem is authorized to call him that. Marcelo Pelisco, that musical genius who could produce a melody out of a bamboo tube or leaf, is known as “Dodong” but later adopted an Italian-sounding “Peliscoli.” Remember Bonnie Jean Quirante? He is now called “BJ” (pronounced Bee-jay) which is just proper and in keeping with the times. Today it is fashionable to reverse the name. But mind you, as early as the seventies, we already did that. Thus, Cesar Chavit Calonia (C3) is Sarsi. And yes, the name “Japeth” which became extinct eventually resurrected as “Ploktoy.”

Some names replicate. One of the unexpected flatteries in life is when a child who is not yours is named after you. It is a measure of your life’s influence to the person replicating your name in his or her child. Of course, we do not discount the possibility that it is just a mere coincidence that the name of the child is the same as yours. When Comrad and Helen Rara’s first child was born, they called him Ham. Comrad was probably thinking of Ham Migriño, or the biblical Ham, but it is also possible that it is just a combination of the partnership “Helen and Marcelo.” And by the way, it is really true that when Ham was born, Comrad kept a measuring tape handy measuring the height of his firstborn everyday, to verify if his son’s growth rate is positive. Today, Ham Rara is a towering young man--- defying gravity and the DNA code in his inherited genes that tells him that he should be short. His height is probably more than the sum of the heights of Comrad, Helen and Comrad’s mother combined. Lest I be misunderstood, I always regard Comrad as an intellectual giant. As a high school mate and a kababayan, I am proud of his achievements: Magna Cum Laude, EE Board topnotcher, Master’s degree in Computer Applications. And now that he is finishing law--- with fewer hairs, notwithstanding---I have great faith that he will top the bar exam. Sort of, you know, expensive gifts come in small packages.

Going back to our theme, Sarsi’s eldest daughter is called Hazel. (His first child is a boy named Michael but as a toddler, I called him Mr. Clean.) Now “Hazel” is a nice-sounding name but it cannot be denied that among Cesar’s small sisters in MSU, Hazel Fiel was his favorite. Then there’s the son of Ellen Palmes-Luchavez who is named Shem. Incidentally, the firstborn of Genersol Guardaya and Rey Monton is also called Reygen Shem.

Names that are taken at face value. Finally, there are names that remain unchanged. The most popular love team in the group at some later time was that of Adam CabantacAdam and Evelyn (Eve!!!) Sorronda. Adam and Eve finally got married and they are now tending their paradise somewhere in Western Mindanao. We have other biblical names like Ebenezer (Bandiola Martinez), Joel (Cardenas), Merriam (Grate), Esther (Lacuna Pontillano, Adam (Cabantac), Esther (Roa-Migriño), Ruth (Pontillano), Solomon (Ligtas Alfeche), Bethuel (Bernas Ortaleza), Job (Delovieres, Domingo), Melchiades (Hayag, Jr.), Ezekiel (Sardua), Jonathan (Sardua), Samuel (Sardua, Atienza), Dan (Postrero), Benjamin (Gaviño), Emmanuel (Pamisa), Mispah (Cabantac), Leah (Teoganco)…you name it, probably we have it. There were also funny names---not really funny in the sense of being derogatory but it is more on the timing. (It reminds me of my two classmates in English 3, Ricardo Sabado and Amer Domingo, who sat side by side during the first day of class and introduced their names one after the other, but that is a different story. Eventually, Ric became an Adventist.) The names that were in my mind before I got distracted were those of Norman Manga and Elvie Papaya.

I can go on and on but the people that are still in my mind are the pioneers, the pillars and the prominent whose names need not be mentioned here in order to be remembered because they are unforgettable indeed. Then there might be names that I missed out perhaps because it is filed in the inner recesses of my memory and therefore irretrievable at the moment. But honestly, there might be some that are really forgotten which betrays the fact that age is indeed fast catching up.

12/30/2023

WHAT IS TRUTH?

Text: John 18:38: Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?”

THE $64 QUESTION

Every time I read this passage, I always develop some feelings of regret. Not only for my own but for Pilate’s sake, too. I wish Pilate lingered a little while to listen to Christ’s answer to his question. But since he was not interested on the answer, the whole world miss one more utterance from the Man who is the source of all wisdom. Of course, Jesus expounded the subject in many parts in the Bible, e.g. in John 14:6, He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” But still I am curious what would Jesus have to say to Pilate.

What is truth? It is a simple question but very hard to answer. Many philosophers from the time of the Greeks up to our modern times spend their lifetimes pondering on the question. I checked one dictionary to find out its definition of truth and this is what I found:
Definition: fidelity; constancy; sincerity in action, character, and utterance; the state of being the case; the body of real things, events, and facts; actuality.

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE MOON LANDING

For those of us who belong to the baby boomers and earlier generation, we remembered it clearly. It happened on July 20, 1969. Can you remember what happened on that date? I was in first year high school then. I am talking about the time when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon. The first time ever in the history of mankind that man had set his foot on another heavenly body except earth. There were few televisions then and they were black and white and the images of the two astronauts jumping and bouncing on the moon surface were hazy and grainy but that did not deter us from congregating at the home of our classmate who had TV. When Armstrong uttered the now famous “A small step of man, a giant leap for mankind” it correctly expressed everybody’s sentiments. It was not merely a fulfillment of an American dream but a triumph of mankind. In fact, the Philippines joined the worldwide celebration when then President Marcos declared that day a national holiday. Sometime later, though, a neighbor in our barrio commented that the moon had dimmed a little bit, that it has lost some of its luster after man had touched it. So, man finally did reach the moon, and everybody accepted it as fact. But did it really happen?

Quite lately, a certain group of people circulated a story about how we never landed on the Moon. The questioning intensified after the Fox television network aired ''Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon?'' Those who doubt the Apollo moon landings maintained the United States lacked the technology to send humans to the Moon and was so desperate to appear to win the space race against the Soviet Union that it faked the moon mission on movie sets. They suggested that the shooting was done at a desert in Nevada.

The doubters said the fake was done so poorly that there is ample evidence of fraud, including a picture of astronauts planting the American flag that allegedly shows the flag rippling in the wind. The skeptics contended there can be no breeze on the moon, so the picture must have been faked.

It happened here in LA a few years ago. One of those unbelievers by the name Bart Sibrel confronted astronaut Buzz Aldrin at a Beverly Hills hotel and demanded that Aldrin swear on a Bible that he had in fact walked on the moon.

Aldrin, the second man ever to touch the lunar surface, who is already in his 70s by this time, punched the 37-year-old Sibrel in the face. Sibrel asked that assault charges be filed, but Los Angeles County prosecutors declined. A videotape of the incident showed Sibrel following Aldrin on the street with a Bible and calling him a ''thief, liar and coward,'' one prosecutor said.

Now, this may sound a trivial issue to some but come to think of it. Did man really land on the moon on July 20, 1969? If you believe so, what is the basis of your belief? Did you ever make a critical, unbiased study on whether this event really happened? To me, probably all of us here tonight, as with the overwhelming majority of the people of the world, we believed that it happened. And I can state several reasons why we believe it:

1. I saw it on TV and heard it over the radio. But is it enough evidence? Can you believe everything you see on TV and hear on radio?

October 30, 1938, the night before Halloween. The United States of America went into panic. In the America of 1938, no one had a TV. Plenty of people still don't have phones, cars or indoor plumbing. But nearly everyone had a radio. That night, an estimated six million Americans gathered around their "magic boxes."

At 8PM ET, the radio show began as a pleasant evening of music. A conductor named Ramon Raquello and his orchestra played vaguely Spanish music. Suddenly an announcer cut in: "Ladies and gentlemen, we interrupt our program of dance music to bring you a special bulletin..." He went on to say that a "huge flaming object" had crushed on a farm in New Jersey. The impact was said to be as intense as an earthquake. Was it a meteorite?

The music came back. But soon a perky reporter named Carl Phillips began interrupting with bulletins from Grovers Mill, a tiny New Jersey town. Phillips tried to interview Mr. Wilmuth, the owner of the farm where this mysterious object had landed. Mr. Wilmuth was mumbly, so Phillips went back to painting word pictures.

The object was not a meteorite but a large yellowish cylinder. Creepy sounds came from the pit where it landed. The top of the cylinder lifted and a head wiggled out. A head with tentacles. Phillips shrieked: "Ladies and gentlemen," he sobbed, "this is the most terrifying thing I have ever witnessed...There, I can see the thing's body. It's large, large as a bear and it glistens like wet leather..." The martians must have invaded our planet! And the six million radio listeners panicked.

In reality, it was just a drama adaptation of an old science-fiction novel The War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells. It was designed to be scary because it was intended to be shown on the eve of Halloween and the people thought it was the end of the world!

2. I read about it in newspapers, books and magazines

3. The astronauts who landed on the moon have returned and can testify that they were there and they are still with us.

4. Both the NASA and the Soviet Space Agency staffed by hundreds of scientists and engineers have monitored the entire process of the moon landing and they have records of that activity in their archives.

5. The astronauts have brought with them moon rocks and those rocks were studied and scrutinized by hundreds of scientists throughout the world.

6. The moon landing was not a single event. It was repeated several times. Apollo 11 was followed by Apollo 12, 14, 15 and 16 and all have all been successful. Twelve people in all.

But what amazes me was the fact that, in spite of the overwhelming evidence of the truthfulness about the moon landing, there are still a group of people who sincerely believe it did not happen.

THE TRUTH ABOUT GOD

Two thousand years ago, the creator of the universe landed on our planet with the purpose of revealing to us the truth about God. But in spite of the overwhelming evidence, only few people believed him. From the time of His birth up to the time of His death, only a handful believed on the truthfulness of His message.

In Luke 16, starting on verse 19, Jesus gave a parable about a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, full of sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table; more over the dogs came and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried; and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom. And he called out, “Father Abraham. Have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.” But Abraham said, “Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish. And beside all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.” And he said, “then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come to this place of torment.” But Abraham said, “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.” And he said, “No, father Abraham; but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” He said to him, “If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.”

Now, I have to warn you that there are some religious denominations who make this parable the main basis for the doctrine about the state of the dead and the existence of hell. But this is merely a parable and should not be made a basis of doctrine. But what this parable teaches us is that, a person who chooses not to believe will never believe the truth even if all the evidences are available to him.

In 1807, Robert Fulton invented the first steamboat. Before that, ships are driven by wind power or by rowing manually. Fulton’s was the first boat to be powered by the steam engine and on that day, it was ready for trial run from New York to Albany and back. People gathered on the pier and gawk at this novel thing. The skeptics were there, too. They didn’t believe that the steamboat would run and they kept saying, “It will not move! It will not move!” Then the huge boiler was heated and the boat started to move. When they saw that the boat started moving, they changed their chant to “It will not stop! It will not stop!”

From Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, 4thQ, 2003, p. 98.
“Those who don’t want to believe in God, or in Jesus will always find reasons for the unbelief…all the signs, miracles, and wonders in the world will never erase all doubt. Thus, those who want to cling to doubt will always have something to cling to, no matter the signs.”

On the other hand, man has the tendency to readily believe a lie. Jesus says in John 3: 19: “And this is the judgment, that the light has come into this world, and the men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”

Illustration:

For many years, several scientific and not-so scientific investigations were conducted in the US to prove the existence of a living giant. What triggered those investigations was the presence of footprints in several locations. The footprints resemble the imprints of a human foot on the ground only they are much, much bigger. And since the footprints are fresh, they concluded that there must be some huge man-like creatures, probably of different species which are alive. That creature, if he existed, has been called Bigfoot.
Recently a man dies and after his death, his family reveals to the public that the man was the creator of Bigfoot. He perpetrated the hoax by forming a shape of a big foot out of wood and he used it to make those imprints. The mystery was finally solved. Or was it? No. Even after the revelation some people still continue to believe the existence of Bigfoot and they continued their search for him.

Again it amazes me how man could easily believe a blatant lie but can hardly believe a truth even if he is buried under a mountain of evidence. On the other hand, I am not surprised because the devil has been in existence for thousands of years sowing lies all over the place. In John 8:44, Jesus says of those who do not believe the truth: “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

The raging great controversy between Christ and Satan, brethren, is literally a cosmic battle between truth and error. Satan's studied strategy in this great war is to make God look bad. He hopes that by heaping upon us pain, violence, disease, and death, he can goad us into blaming God for our troubles---into giving God the credit for Satan's diabolical doings. God's character has been terribly maligned. He has often been accused of all the evil that has happened in the world. We ask the question, why has God allowed this or that?

When Voltaire was a little boy, his mother was telling him how God love good boys but how he hates the bad boys that He would throw them into the lake of fire. When Voltaire heard the story, he said: “If God is like that then I hate him.” And he grew up to become a notorious enemy of Christianity. At one time he said: “One man founded Christianity, but I will show to you that only one man will destroy it.” Well, Voltaire has been dead long time ago, but Christ’s church is still alive and growing. On the very ground where Voltaire uttered those words, now stands a Christian Church.
Jesus came to set the record straight. Jesus came to die for more than our salvation. Much more was at stake. He came to answer a charge against the justice of God that preceded our human need for salvation.

Appeal:

Brethren, how would you feel if someone would accuse you of lying when you are not? Most probably, you feel hurt. But it will be more hurting if the one who accuses you is someone you love. By not living according to the light that we have received, by knowingly disregarding the teachings of Christ, we align ourselves with Satan, the Father of lies and helped him in maligning God’s character. And considering that God loves us, He must be hurting greatly. Now is the time to stand for God and vindicate God’s character in our lives.
John 18:38: Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?”

Brethren, God has answered that query long time ago. In Exodus 3:14, God said: “I AM.”

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