LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “…in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit…” (Ephesians 2:22, the Holy Bible).
-ooo-
WOMANIZING IS A CRIME, AND A SIN, WHETHER DONE WITH FINESSE OR NOT: So, is it ok to be a womanizer if it is done with finesse? And, can we be clarified, when is womanizing, particularly of a very-much married man, done with finesse? Can philandering and adultery, which cause family break-up of families every time they are committed, be any less a crime or a sin if done with finesse? Oh well, how long will Filipinos put up with those who openly advocate adultery and sinfulness?
-ooo-
UST MUST TELL THE TRUTH ON ALLEGED GAME FIXING AT UAAP: I appeal to the University of Sto. Tomas to come out with an official statement explaining the truth about reports in the social media which say that it had disbanded its basketball team at the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) and fired the team’s coach allegedly because of game fixing during its championship match with the Far Eastern University team last year. Is this true or not?
-ooo-
UAAP MUST BE DISBANDED: But whether it is true or not, I always thought that the UAAP should itself be disbanded, for its failure to achieve what it set out to do among student athletes when it was first organized—that is, to develop sportsmanship and good character, not only as an athlete, but as a human being. One needs only to watch any UAAP game to realize that players, coaches, and students alike have imbibed nothing but shameless self-aggrandizement, greed, and the attitude of winning at all cost.
-ooo-
WHO CAN SOLEMNIZE MARRIAGES IN RP: Let me list down here the people who have been authorized by the Family Code of the Philippines to perform marriages in our country, as an offshoot of a question that we featured in this column the other day. Under Art. 7 of the Code, there are five groups of people who can solemnize marriages in the Philippines. The first group are judges and justices, within their courts’ jurisdiction.
Then, any priest, rabbi, imam, or minister of any church or religious sect duly authorized by his church or religious sect and registered with the civil registrar general. Third, any ship captain or any airplane chief or pilot, but only when those who are to be married, passengers or crew members, are at the point of death, and only when the ship is at sea or the plane or is in flight, or when they are at stopovers or port calls.
The fourth group are military commanders who are commissioned officers of units to which a chaplain is assigned and, in the absence of a chaplain, during military operations, but only when those to be married are at the point of death. The last group are consul generals, consuls, or vice consuls, in their areas of assignment.
-ooo-
HAVE YOU BEEN BROUGHT NEAR TO JESUS? Members of the Anak ng Diyos Kadugo Ni Kristo (Children of God Blood Kin of the Christ) Church are being asked, what is the Biblical basis for their assertion that they are a part of those who were “sent” by Jesus Christ under John 20:21. I put quotation marks on the word “sent” because it has a special meaning for AND KNK members, and it is that, they are sent to preach the Gospel and to save souls, as a fulfillment of the end-time work of Jesus.
There are many Biblical bases of this claim, of course, but among my favorites are those found under Ephesians 2:11-22. In sum, these verses in Ephesians give the assurance that we who are “far away”—meaning those who were not originally part of God’s nation—have been brought near by the blood of Jesus (that is why AND KNK members claim they are “blood kin” of the Christ) through faith in Him as God and Savior.
And so we believe, deep in our hearts, that we are “no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In Him, the whole building is joined together, and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord…”
-ooo-
PLEASE WATCH OR LISTEN: “Tambalang Batas at Somintac”, a news-commentary radio program, aired at DZEC 1062 kHz and other Radyo Agila provincial stations, at http://www.eaglebroadcasting.net/radyoagila and at www.youtube.com (type DZEC Radyo Agila Tambalang Batas at Somintac 1062 Live), 6 to 7 in the morning, Philippine time. Phone: 0922 833 43 96, 0918 574 0193, 0977 805 9058. Email: batasmauricio@yahoo.com.
