Death and Life

 Amidst all the candles being lit, all the tombs being cleaned, all the flowers being offered, all the biko's (gelatinous rice cake) and ginataan's (I don't know what this is in Filipino) being eaten, all the kids and not so kids dressed in costumes, in short, amidst this Halloween, November one, All Saints-Souls Day, we at PLMCI is promoting life through water baptism! Yes, the world may "celebrate" or "commemorate" the death of loved ones and certain people, but we celebrate the death of sin and the resurrection of a new life as received by our beloveds as they proclaim, by faith, that they are officially followers of Christ and members of PLMCI.

It was held at IMB Sea Breeze Resort here in Taguig. With our eight delegates, we joyfully internalize Christ's lordship unto our lives as we fully say no to our old selves and live a new life everyday. Bagong buhay araw-araw. Galatians 2:20, through Paul, the Lord reminds us that a true follower of Christ manifest His image in his life. "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." we should say no to sin everyday. 

" I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)

These are the photos of the baptism being lead by Pastor Rey and assistants Timothy and Anthony. I, personally, love the photos for they look like comic strips. Haha. :) 

Angel and me. :)

Ate LJ.

Ate Cherryl.

Ate Ofalyn.

Jonathan.

Fitz.

Ian.

Kuya Ronald.

There you go. Being a follower of Christ means taking up our cross everyday. What do we mean by that? It is saying no to our old selves, saying no to sin, saying no to every temptation, saying no to every wrong desire, and saying yes to God. Ang hirap no'? Being a follower of Chirst also is submitting to the authorities God gave on His behalf. Mahirap dahil maya't-maya ang pagbalik ng mga hindi na dapat bumabalik pa. For example, we have decided na hindi na tayo magiging palaaway and magiging peace maker na tayo. Pero, when situations provoke us, nag-re-resurface ang ugaling iyon and pag natauhan tayo, we would feel guilty. Hindi natin dapat hayaang mabuhay ang mga ugali at kaisipang dapat ay patay na. For when they came alive again, zombies na sila.   And it would stink worse than before. 

But nothing is impossible with God. Surrendering is the key. We can not just blame our emotions and we can not just let them rule our lives. We will always have that decision to stand on our faith and live the new life that God gave us. It may be hard to smile when depression kicks in, to control ourselves when anger is flaring up, to tame our tongues when cursing people is so tempting, to calm our hearts when we would want to pursue relationships and God doesn't have a go signal yet, and to continue the walk we have with Christ when the world makes its every effort to stop us, all of this is possible with faith in God.  

For He is faithful and He would not let us suffer from something that we can't overcome. :) God bless you kapatid! :D Decide now to live the new life He has for you! :D